The Business of Poverty

I take issue with international aid, development, outreach and other such programs. Not so much for the work they would so selflessly like to do, but more for the ineffective ways they (often) go about doing things. I think to really be viable/helpful/useful it would make more sense when these groups or their funding gets pulled out, or a program ends, that a productive & self-sustaining system be left in place. It's that "teach a man to fish" versus "give a man a fish" thing. But how can these aid workers who (for the most part) have no real business or management skills run/manage these organizations that have access to vast hoards of capital and moral wealth?

In September my friend Jasmine, who is at NYU, sent me an e-mail advertising an event that I made sure I saw. While it was exciting to watch a live streamed lecture on line, the subject matter was the real attraction. "A Symposium on small farms, agribusiness and how management education can make an impact," took place September 21, 2011 at Columbia University's Business School. Moderated by the school's director, Murray B. Law, the panel featured Marika McCauley (Coca-Cola), Ted London (U. Michigan) and Naty Barak (Netafim).

Callus as it may seem, poor people are a valid and viable consumer group to be tapped. This symposium discusses this subject in a dynamic and out-of-the-box thinking way. Here's the official description:

"There are approximately 500 million smallholder farms around the globe.The majority of these farmers are living in poverty, barely making enough to scrape by. For companies operating in the food/beverage and related sectors, sourcing from these farmers presents tremendous growth opportunities, but only if they can overcome the challenges of adapting business models and innovating supply chains.

As businesses grapple with the complexity of the agriculture sector, business schools play an important role in understanding these new models and disseminating best practices through teaching, research, and publications." 

And here's the link to the webcast: 
http://www.gbsnonline.org/news-and-events-section/events/unleashing-potential-agribusiness-and-the-smallholder-farmer.html

Bon Appétit!