A week in our life...

Mon, 09/16/2024 - 07:12

I look back at the past week with hope and desperation and it explains to me one thing clearly - the move from unorganized to organized sector, comes with a risk. The risk of divisive interests, manipulative possibility and hidden agenda.

Let me start from the beginning -

9th Monday - talk to an alternate group on the scheduled (upcoming) talk to a larger nationwide group of wannabe agri-entrepreneurs

11th Wednesday - visit another town, engage with about 20 and several agri-entrepreneurs and Farmer Producer Company (FPC) members

12th Thursday - sit through government meeting on agriculture 'modernisation' project to review the same on behalf of a multi-lateral organisation

13th Friday - listen to proposal by agri-marketing team online, visit and long dialogue with tribal women's entrepreneur group

14th Saturday - meeting with an Economist-Research Institution Head and young Investment firm Entrepreneur

As you can see, there were meetings with several entrepreneurs and there were meetings with the organized sector (both alternative and mainstream) that tries to ''organize'' the diverse enterprise space to support them. My experience last week tells me that the organized sector in its attempt to structure / facilitate / help cannot be managed by people who know so less on the unorganized sector. One of the key factors for this is those who coordinate these efforts, or more precisely their lack of orientation towards another way of looking at the world. In the case of the alternative this is a well meaning young lady who is sincere, but, measures her own effectiveness on the basis of the efficiency of her work and in the case of government, it is the adoption of technology to hasten impact. In both cases the ignorance and lack of orientation towards the view and attitude of the entrepreneur ends up harming rather than doing good to the overall effort.

While the senior economist accepts these differences and is wiser in ensuring that these are factored into his research activities, the young investor can only listen and admire at another world without being able to relate to the same. He will learn that is my current feeling. This week promises to be equally interesting. Will update early next week.

-- Ram. 16/09/2024

17/09/2024 Added: In continuation to my note yesterday, here is a true story from last week —

Episode #1: ”Adulterate to Scale Up” - suggests a scientist

While talking to a group of new agri-entrepreneurs many of whom were into oil expelling unit, they bemoan how the cost of groundnut at the time of procurement and the normal conversion ratio from nut to oil, renders them uncompetitive in the market where the big brands are selling at half the price of their cost price. As the meeting was convened by a multiple-departmental government programme, we also had a professor from the premium agricultural university amongst us.

Sitting at the back until this cost factor was mentioned, he put up his hands and identified himself as a former head of the government research organisation on groundnut. He explained to the audience about the different varieties of groundnut and how some of them give better oil yields than others and how by blending them the entrepreneurs can get save some cost. But then, he didn’t stop there. He went on to suggest that they also blend imported palm oil and sunflower oil, both being very cheap, and a process of filtering this blended oil through a petroleum filter renders the oil colourless and odourless!! He mentioned that this is the process adopted by big brands to keep cost low.

At this point one confused looking young entrepreneur looked at me - I was facilitating this session - and said, “sir, are you suggesting that we practice adulteration?”. Gave me an opportunity to talk about why scientist have to be at the service of entrepreneurs and not the other way around and most importantly, they do not accept the ethics of modern science into their enterprise, as much of what is practiced as science and technology today emerges from bad ethics.

Local markets, built on trust and ethical principles, do not need to compete in cost with large unethical brands. Producers need to trust their customers to appreciate and pay for getting unadulterated food at low foods miles. Current fetish with “growth” that is only seen as linear, and, “wealth” only measured in profits earned, is promoted indiscriminately by “incubation” centre and “entrepreneur” promotion ventures. In their bid to bring unorganised and local entrepreneurs into the scaled up and mainstream organised economic space, they inflict the most unethical principles on such people.

A week in our life...

A week in our life...

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