Ithaca, New York
February 27, 2007
By Huong Quynh Pham
In early January, five Cornell
University students led by Edward T. Mabaya, a research
associate in Cornell's Department of Applied Economics and
Management, traveled to Kenya for an intense 10-day field study.
Their task: work with two local seed companies to lay out
business and marketing strategies in Kenya's competitive seed
industry.
They were the fourth group of students to travel abroad with the
Seeds of Development Program (SODP), an initiative devoted to
alleviating rural poverty in Africa.
Mabaya and his students worked with Freshco Seed in Nairobi and
Oil Crops Development in Nakuru. The students consulted with
senior personnel, visited maize farms and talked to distributors
who serve as an important link in the companies' sales chain.
The students then developed comprehensive marketing strategies,
including designing promotional brochures and building Web
sites, and presented empirical approaches with broader
perspectives that the companies need for future growth. They
will follow up by writing a case study and individual papers,
and by providing additional consultations for the two companies.
Seed has been shown to play a crucial role in the sustainability
of the agricultural system and in food protein supply in
sub-Saharan Africa. But building systems to deliver the most
recent technologies to farmers is a challenge.
"The overall objective of the field course is to help students
build skills needed to address critical issues most likely faced
by those doing small and medium business in emerging markets by
developing sustainable growth strategies for a number of
selected small and medium private seed companies," Mabaya said.
"Specifically, those strategies will help to make the companies
more competitive in both local and international markets, more
unflinching to challenges, at the same time reducing risks."
The demand for quality seeds in Kenya is high, especially for
hybrids, improved open-pollinated varieties and indigenous
seeds. But those seeds are not always physically or financially
available to the farmers. Small and medium seed companies must
overcome the poor rural transportation infrastructure, the lack
of effective sales points and inadequate access to financial
services -- not to mention competition from multinational
corporations.
As the students addressed those issues, they got satisfaction
from knowing they were making a difference -- and a valuable new
perspective on the needs of developing countries.
"This experience opened my eyes to new ways of looking at
development," said Laura Cramer, a graduate student in
international agriculture and rural development. "I went from
solely an NGO [nongovernmental organization] perspective to
really understanding the possibilities of public-private
partnerships."
The SOPD is a project of Market Matters Inc., a nonprofit
organization, which works in collaboration with the Emerging
Markets Program at Cornell.
by Huong Quynh Pham,
graduate student at the Cornell Institute for Public Affairs.
Related SeedQuest editorial
Strengthening Africa’s private seed sector
to serve smallholder farmers
by
Dr. Edward Mabaya,
Research
Associate, Cornell University |
|
