Empowerment

I have to admit that I like to work with my hands.  I derive satisfaction from a finished project.  And if tasked with a project of tearing something apart . . . well, I've taken pride in work like that since I was three years old.  Last week when I was in the village, I noted that a neighbor was tearing down a house with nothing but a crowbar!  I was a bit jealous.  But I wasn't the only one.  A seven-year-old also helped out with his hammer.

As a toddler with Lincoln Logs I thought the repeated cycle of building and toppling was great fun.  And seemed that the parents wholeheartedly approved, pointing to abstract child development principles like autonomy and empowerment.

In arenas where ideas and solutions to poverty are discussed, the topics often include notions of empowerment, which usually means that individuals and communities have been granted autonomy to utilize resources according to their own preferences.  Building a new house with your own hands, after first tearing down the old one with your crowbar, gives evidence of an empowered people who can shape their own destiny.

But doesn't the picture of the man with the crowbar also reveal vulnerability?  After all, whatever can be torn down with a crowbar can also be demolished with a small earthquake.

With regard to processing mangos in village areas, if empowerment was the only objective, we would have designed the dehydrator, devised the systems, trained the farmers, . . . and then left.  Doing so would have granted them autonomy, leaving them with the resources to shape their own destiny.  But both the group leader and the village participants have unanimously voiced an appeal for continued involvement with us, who are village outsiders, tackling the matters of process improvements, product development and marketing.

I have received both criticism and commendation for our continued collaboration with the farmer group.  On the one hand, I have been criticized for insulating the village workers from challenging matters like marketing.  On the other hand, I have been commended for the ongoing improvements to the production process.  But no one has mentioned the matter of vulnerability, which I think is the matter most on the mind of the village participants, who have indicated that all production would completely stop if we ceased our involvement.

I don't blame them.  Food manufacturing is a complicated undertaking that requires knowledge, skill and care in all aspects of production.  Understanding the magnitude of the risks, the farmer group would choose to forego production, opting instead to return to the menial tasks of small-scale farming and gravel-making.

As I "build people to build a nation", my objective has shifted away from the granting of resources that can bolster a fragile sense of empowerment.  Instead, my aim is to address remaining areas of vulnerability, like technical competence and management capability.  More than just increasing assets, meaningful community development has to do with improving human capabilities that reduce vulnerability for individuals, families and communities.

You probably didn't think that a bag of dried mangos contained abstract ideas, like empowerment.  The next time you taste the sweet, natural flavor of the slices in a bag of Java Bite dried mangos, know that the product was produced with a view to building the people who made it.

Social Entrepreneurship?

A year ago I had never heard of the term - social entrepreneurship, which was first introduced to me by a professor at Iowa State University after she had given a presentation on entrepreneurship.  As I explained what I do - i.e. develop technologies and processes for mango products so that jobs and incomes grow in underdeveloped areas - she said, "Oh, you're talking about social entrepreneurship, which is another huge topic that I didn't have time to address."

Not wanting to look stupid, I didn't ask her to define social entrepreneurship.  After all, if it's a huge topic, I should know something about it, right?  Especially if it's what I do!

It turns out that I'm not the only one who needs some help to understand the term.  Fortunately, some smart people have responded to requests for clarification.  Here are some of their thoughts. . . 

"I think social entrepreneurship is a business built around the objective of solving a social challenge."  -Dina Sherif, Associate Director at John D. Gerhart Center for Philanthropy and Civic Engagement, American University in Cairo.

"Social entrepreneurs are addressing specific social issues and doing something about them to solve those problems and rally support for that cause through various tools." -Fadi Ghandour, Founder & CEO of Aramex.

"Social entrepreneurship is about building systems for changing local solutions to local problems. Social entrepreneurs are committed, unique and creative individuals who are obsessed with finding structural solutions to problems." -Iman Bibars, Regional Director at Ashoka Arab World.

Java Bite products exist as a solution to a social dilemma.  Mango trees are being destroyed.  Unemployment in rural Indonesia is high.  Investment is low.  Average incomes in the area range from $2 to $3 per person per day.  By creating technologies, refining processes and developing markets for dried mango products, we are addressing critical issues faced by tens of thousands of people who depend on the mango industry.

I didn't know the word a year ago, but "social entrepreneurship" indeed describes what we do when we fill up a bag of Java Bite Sweet Dried Fruit.  And the social impact of our business is so important to us that we refer to it on the back of our package.  Visit the online store and purchase these delicious products!  When you do, you will be part of the solution to social dilemmas that exist in Indonesia.

* Quotes are from "Social Entrepreneurship vs. Social Activism: What is the Difference?", http://ht.ly/eCcgG

Talk About Variety

Did I mention that Indonesia has over 200 documented varieties of mangos?  In the markets of Indonesia you might be able to find five or six varieties that have commercial value.  So, 200 hundred varieties seems like a lot, doesn’t it?

So, how does 14,000 varieties strike you?  That was the number of apple varieties in North America in the 19^th century.  Tim Hensley writes,

“In the 19th century, apples came in all shapes and guises, some with rough, sandpapery skin, others as misshapen as potatoes, and ranging from the size of a cherry to bigger than a grapefruit. Colors ran the entire spectrum with a wonderful impressionistic array of patterning—flushes, stripes, splashes, and dots. There was an apple for every community, taste, purpose, and season, with winter varieties especially prized. Apples were used for making cider, baking, drying, eating out of hand—even as livestock feed.” (from “A Curious Tale: the Apple in North America”, Tim Hensley, Brooklyn Botanical Garden,  http://www.bbg.org/gardening/article/the_apple_in_north_america)

Currently in North America about ninety varieties are grown commercially and a host of other heirloom varieties live quietly in the private gardens and orchards of hobbyists.  While they may cultivate apple trees as a hobby, such people are not novices.  Folks like Tim Hensley have an exceptional grasp of genetics, horticulture and grafting techniques.  They are the volunteer guardians of the apple species.

In the village of Tiron, where we are beginning another season of mango drying, recent research revealed that 36 mango varieties exist but only three or four varieties are grown commercially.  The other varieties have lived in quiet neglect in the same mango groves that are being threatened by mining concerns.

In an effort to encourage cultivation of mango trees and preserve existing varieties the national government has recruited the help of Mr. Jem, who has worked with me for six years.  During the past year, Mr. Jem has grown 5000 seedlings to be used for the grafting of underrepresented mango varieties.  Local farmers are expected to take home a seedling, choose a variety to graft, plant the tree on their own land and care for the grafted variety.  Not all of these farmers will have the same motivation as heirloom hobbyists.  “If there is no real commercial value to the farmer, why would they want to care for the tree?”, remarks Mr. Jem, stating an obvious fact about people who live on $2 a day.

An optimist would expect Mr. Jem to become a legend like Johnny Appleseed, propagating mango varieties in a way that preserves biodiversity.  A pragmatist would expect an economic version of natural selection to take place, resulting in a relatively small set of commercially viable mango varieties. 

The researcher in me wants to know how well each of these varieties dry.  Finding some with attractive taste and texture characteristics after drying would allow us to develop markets for previously unknown varieties.  I could be busy for many years to come!

  

Alongside "Johnny Mangoseed"?

Mango Manager

Mango season has arrived!  It is now time for me to roll up my sleeves, adorn a face mask and sit down in room full of women with knives!

Every year we face a new set of challenges.  In 2008 the fabricator of our dehydrator made some major errors, preventing production for that year.  (We now have new design that works much better.)  In 2009 we researched, devised and applied new procedures to improve the texture of the final product.  (Our product development efforts have succeeded in making a dried mango product that has a texture as good or better than every other similar product on the market.)  In 2010 unexpected and frequent rains during the dry season hammered the mango tree flowers resulting in a 30% drop in mango production that year.  (This year the expected harvest appears to be in the normal range.)  In 2011 collective methods of work- i.e. equal payment for everyone, regardless of individual abilities- was showing signs of needing reform.  The proficient workers correctly voiced concern that the system didn't reward them properly.  So this year we embark on the necessary reforms, which represents another healthy step toward the goal of establishing a village enterprise, which is sustainable and efficient.

I guess I've become a mango manager.  I guide our dried mango production in such a way that economic principles (like individual pay for individual work) find application in specific cultural contexts.  I don't know exactly what the new system will look like yet.  But ample discussion with the group leader, my local staff and the workers themselves, should result in a new way of working that will satisfy everyone.  I try to make everyone happy - particularly the room full of women with knives!  ;-)

Plural forms

Here's a confession. Every time I write the plural form of the word 'mango', a surge of paranoia comes over me.

"Do I use 'mangos' or 'mangoes'?"
"If I use 'mangos', will people think I'm stupid and illiterate?"
"If I use 'mangoes', will people think I'm indecisive and wishy-washy because I usually use 'mangos'?"
"What if someone asks why I use the spelling 'mangos'? Should I contrive some etymological reason?  Or should I be honest and tell them I just want to save a keystroke?"

My palms are sweating even now.

You may be wondering why I have never let the dictionary settle the matter for me. Well, I tried. And my paranoia persists. Here is the entry.

 mango.  |ˈmaNG gō|.  noun.  (pl. mangoes or mangos )  
1.  a fleshy yellowish-red tropical fruit that is eaten ripe or used green for pickles or chutneys.  
2. (also mango tree ) the evergreen Indian tree of the cashew family that bears this fruit, widely cultivated in the tropics. 

So, now you know that you can spell the plural form of mango EITHER way! Instead of eliminating my anxiety, it gives it another twist.

"Which form is most popular?"
"Which form do my readers prefer?"
"Which form makes me look less stupid?"

Please help me put an end to my quandary.  Write down in the comment below the plural form of "mango" you feel most comfortable with.  In that way, I will at least know the preferences of readers of this blog!

Start with "why"

 I'm not an inspiring leader but I am motivated by the "why" question. Simon Sinek explains the reason that each one of us derive energy from purpose. Determination, persistence and perseverance all come from one place . . . knowing why.

As we make Java Bite Sweet Dried Fruit, our aim is to infuse hope in underdeveloped areas by creating opportunities, positively impacting individuals, communities and the broader local economy. We envision employees equipped, families nourished, communities enabled and lives enhanced with new products.

What is your aim? Share it here!

Dehydrators and people

 In the village of Tiron, natural resource extraction has become a way of life. Agriculture provides the largest amount of community income.  Mining in the village is a close second.  In both agriculture and mining the tools of the trade are very simple - hoe, plow, hammer.  Low technologies present very limited opportunities for personal development.

To be sure, swinging a hammer takes some skill.  And farming requires intuition acquired from years of experience.  And some people I have met in the village genuinely like the freedom and unstructured lifestyle of independent manual work.  But most people, including those who shape public policy, regard development as that process that equips people for better jobs.

Resource Exchange International, Inc. makes that process happen in the village of Tiron.  Dehydrating technology, which represents a higher technology than hammers and hoes, facilitates development of individual competencies.  REI has invested in the research and development of dehydrators that have been successfully deployed in village areas, including the village of Tiron.  Through the introduction of these technologies, people are built and the prospects of community development are enhanced.

Building people to build a nation . . . one dehydrator at a time.