Idea 488 of 500. Cluster 27: The north and the east
Kilinochchi and Mullaitivu farm co-operatives with a cold chain to Colombo
The mechanism, from the book
The land, the lagoons and the savings of families abroad are waiting. What comes first is the small business.
Every idea in cluster 27 uses this mechanism.
A first step
Talk to 5 farmers in one area about what they lose between harvest and sale, and which crop spoils first. Then call the buyers at 3 Colombo supermarkets or large restaurants and ask what they would pay for that crop delivered chilled and on time each week. A farm price, a buyer's price and the cost of one insulated truck run make the case in numbers.
- Who pays first
- A Colombo supermarket or hotel buyer who wants a steady, chilled supply of vegetables or fruit and pays extra for reliability.
- What leaves today
- Produce from the north spoils or sells cheaply at harvest, and the margin between the farm gate and a Colombo shelf goes to whoever moves it.
The idea and the mechanism are from the book. The first step was written for this site as a suggestion; if you know a better one, say so.
The test
Does it keep value that now leaves the island, or build the proof that lets somebody else do so?
The only test any idea on this site has to pass. The four rules that go with it are here.
In the book
- Ch. ThreeWhat We Have Already Built
Jaffna in what we have already built - Ch. SixteenThe Bridge
A nurse who comes home with a credential and not only savings
More from cluster 27
- 486Palmyrah co-operatives owning the processing, the way the coconut list works for the south
- 487Jaffna heritage stays in the old Dutch and Jaffna houses, restored by the families abroad
- 489Batticaloa lagoon tourism: the singing fish, the kayaks, the prawns, sold as a week
- 490Technical colleges in Jaffna and Batticaloa funded by families abroad, with the employers at the table
- 491Trincomalee's Dutch fort and Koneswaram as one managed site, with a shop and a guide service
- 492Passikudah as a family resort town with the standard set by the residents, not the chains
Idea 488 of the 500 in the appendix of Why Not Sri Lanka? Every one can be started by one person, one family or one small firm.