Idea 493 of 500. Cluster 27: The north and the east
Growing what the country still imports: rice, big onions and dried chillies, on contract to the mills and the wholesalers, with drying sheds and stores so the farmer is not forced to sell at harvest
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
Ask a rice mill or a wholesaler how much rice, big onion or dried chilli they buy from abroad, and at what price they would buy it locally instead. Sign up five farmers to grow for that buyer, with the price agreed before planting. Find a dry store that can hold the crop after harvest. The proof is the first harvest sold at the agreed price.
- Who pays first
- A mill or wholesaler that buys onions or chillies from abroad and would rather buy them locally at a fixed price.
- What leaves today
- Money leaves to pay for food the country can grow; contracts and storage keep the farmer's price and the money at home.
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
- 486Jaffna's Karuthakolomban mango graded, packed and sold under its own name, in Colombo and abroad
- 487Jaffna heritage stays in the old Dutch and Jaffna houses, restored by the families abroad
- 488Kilinochchi and Mullaitivu farm co-operatives with a cold chain to Colombo
- 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
Idea 493 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.