As we continue to conduct research and meet with various stakeholders, we have begun drafting a set of questions that we will need to address in our final business plan.
Although a small group of farmers are already part of organic initiatives across five districts of Xieng Khouang Province, the organization is still very grassroots and many decisions must be made. Although a daunting task, this greenfield business planning is extremely exciting!
The organization will face many roadblocks in the months and years to come, but I hope as its Business and Supply Chain Adviser, I can point them in the right direction and prepare them for the challenges and hard decisions to come.
Here is a snapshot of some business plan brainstorming, supported by research and case study success stories:
- What criteria should be used to select farmers for participation in the pilot? (high potential farmers to become early adopters for word-of-mouth village promotion and scalability)
- How should training be facilitated (e.g. ‘train the trainer’ vs. direct to farmer)
- How do we complement training with a productivity enhancing technology?
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| Initial observations suggest opportunities for technology improvements |
- How can we share in-house expertise and simultaneously strengthen relationships with farmers? How can the expertise be tailored to be specific for the unique needs of the farmers (e.g. quality of village infrastructure, irrigation availability, rice paddy plot size, proximity to market, labour availability, etc.)
- How do we build & maintain farmer loyalty to ensure ongoing participation in the organic program?
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| Happy farmers! |
- How do we ensure that we are not proposing farmers commit to a long-term engagement with limited options for reversibility?
- How can materials and technology be standardized to reduce farm input costs, and improve yield quality & growing / harvest efficiency?
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| Labour availability can be a significant challenge hindering quick harvest |
- Will loans need to be provided to farmers to support organic conversion? If so, how can loan structures be established to reduce the likelihood of default?
- How should the team be structured (e.g. FTEs dedicated to innovation / R&D, farmer satisfaction, regular operations, etc.)?
- How do we make the organization less & less reliant on grants for its operations?
- How do we improve the capacity of the organization to vertically integrate and offer more value-add services to farmers (beyond just acting as a middle-man collector)?
- How can the organization achieve revenue diversification (e.g. sale of final KKN product, seed bank, buffalo bank, agriculture expertise / consulting services, equipment sales, etc.)
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The farmers also work to diversify revenue.
Here a young lady is making a beautifully embroidered sinh skirt |
- Where can the rice be milled if existing mills in Laos do not have the advanced technology for <5% broken rice quality expectations?
- Where is the international market for sticky rice? Could further processing of the rice be an option? (****this is where I want your help****share your thoughts****)
- How do we evaluate available ports for export (Thailand vs. Vietnam)?
- What key performance measures and targets will be used to evaluate initiative success?
- How do we work with the Lao PDR government to make this business a shared success story?
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| The government is an important stakeholder |
Stay tuned in the coming weeks as I share some case study success stories. As always connect if you have any questions or insight that can help further develop the business plans.
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| Never lose sight of the people you are working hard to support |
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