Starter Kit. Idea 493 of 500. Cluster 27
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.
The 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.
Ask first
- Department of Agriculture. Ask which seed and growing methods suit big onions and chillies in the area.
- the Divisional Secretariat. Ask which farmer organisations in the division could join a contract scheme.
Check before you spend
Confirm written contracts with the buyer and each farmer, a dry and secure store, and the grading the buyer expects at delivery.
Find out these three numbers
- What does the buyer pay now for imported onions and chillies?
- How long can the crop be stored without losing quality?
- What does drying and storage cost per kilo?
The test
Does it keep value that now leaves the island, or build the proof that lets somebody else do so?
From the appendix of Why Not Sri Lanka? by Dr Maheshika Halbeisen. The idea and the mechanism are the book's; this kit was written for the site.