Mentorship on AgroYield is structured around individual sessions rather than open-ended commitments. A mentee requests a topic, the mentor accepts, you schedule a single session (45–60 minutes typically), the session happens on Zoom, and afterward both parties leave a review. You can rebook with the same mentor afterward — there's no exclusivity.
The lifecycle in detail
1. The request
A mentee browses the Mentorship directory, opens a mentor's profile, and clicks Request a session. They specify a topic, an optional message, and a preferred format (video, voice, chat, or in-person).
This creates a mentorship_requests row with status pending. The mentor gets an in-app notification + an email.
2. The mentor's decision
The mentor accepts or declines. Acceptance moves the request to status accepted and unlocks the scheduling step. Declines can include a polite note explaining why — common reasons are bandwidth, topic mismatch, or "I'm not the right person — try [other mentor]".
3. Scheduling
The mentor proposes a time + duration via the Mentorship Sessions page. They tick Auto-create Zoom meeting (the default), and the session is created on AgroYield's central Zoom Pro account. The mentee receives an email with the join link.
The session card on both sides shows:
- Date + time in West Africa Time
- Join meeting button (opens Zoom)
- Dial-in numbers + meeting password (PSTN fallback)
4. The session itself
Mentor opens the meeting from their Zoom mobile app or browser. Mentee joins from the link in their session card. AgroYield doesn't sit in the call — Zoom handles everything.
When the meeting ends, a webhook from Zoom flips the session status to completed automatically. Both parties receive an email asking for a quick review.
5. Reviews + XP
Either side can leave a 1–5 star rating with an optional written note. Reviews aggregate on the mentor's public profile. Both parties earn XP — mentees get 15, mentors 10 — counted toward profile-level XP achievements.
Repeat sessions
Once a session is completed, either side can start a new request for the same topic or a different one. There's no limit on how many mentorships you can have with the same mentor over time, only on simultaneous active ones (you can't have two pending or accepted requests with the same mentor at the same time).
What if a session never happens
Either side can cancel a scheduled session before it starts. The session moves to cancelled status; the parent request stays accepted so you can re-schedule without going through the request flow again.