Pilot Project Part 9: The Decision

And the crop will be . . . drumroll please . . . rice!

After 2.5 hrs of reviewing all of our survey results and discussing all of the issues, our group voted to grow rice together, probably planning to begin in July. This is a huge step for us, and introduces a whole new host of issues/opportunities/objectives into the project (working with ag extension officers, giving the group information about loan opportunities, discussing marketing strategy, visiting other groups who do similar things, etc).

One interesting thing that come up was that the farmers seemed to act just as the research and observation indicates that they might: as long as the presence of the white man doesn't create too much expectation for free stuff, small scale farmers tend to be risk adverse, and to choose high levels of diversification to protect against risk rather than investing more heavily into a few apparently more profitable options. So while tomatos and mellons have a higher income potential than rice, the farmers unanimously decided against growing them as a group. Several of the members indicated that they will be growing them on their own on a smaller scale, but the risk in terms of both markets and pests and diseases just was too high in their estimation for a group project.

This is a good reminder for anybody concerned with helping the poor anywhere. If people are really taking initiative and ownership over projects, they should and normally will prefer opportunities that are smaller, more sure, and less risky. Some people talk as if farmers need outside help to understand risk, but this seems to me to deny the observable fact that farmers survive year after year by managing risk. All too often development projects focus on the "big opportunities," which give huge promises of "transforming" an individual or a community's life nearly overnight ('with your support we can purchase piece of equipment x that will automatically allow a farmer currently living hand-to-mouth to become affluent in three weeks' and that sort of thing). My gut instinct on these kinds of projects is that either a) the truly poor involve themselves in them because they're confident that they will get the rewards if it succeeds and be spared the risks if they fail because of the presence of the church, or the NGO, or whatever, or that b) these projects primarily attract people who aren't really all that poor. The beauty of small projects that take seriously the idea of keeping farmers from taking unnecessary risks is that they not only succeed more often, but that they attract the type of people who fit in the target group for the project. The big projects with the huge goals more often than not seem to encourage the wealthier members of the community to crowd out the needier in terms of participation.

The Thursday after Easter we begin our third step: kupanga biashara, or "to plan the business." Please pray for wisdom and guidance as we go forward with this, that we would continue to allow the farmers to take the initiative, and that we would be advocates for safer investments in slower, longer lasting changes for them and their families.

Peace,
Michael