SMART Program Information Slides

1. Download the application (MS Word document) from Google docs and complete it.  You will be asked to upload the completed form in Step 2.

https://docs.google.com/open?id=0B2oYTkA3aGoJYzVKMlhxV1BkMzQ

2. Complete the online portion of the application on Qualtrics, and upload your  completed application form and CV.

https://cornell.qualtrics.com/SE/?SID=SV_6s69H05R9FR0U0R

Company Profile:  Grameen Intel Social Business Ltd is a not for profit organization that aims to improve the lives of impoverished people by bringing technology to rural communities using a social business model.

 Project Description and Goals: Grameen Intel (G-I) Social Business is developing a range of services in the areas of agriculture and health for use globally. This SMART project will assist with the introduction of a soil testing/nutrient recommendation service for smallholder farmers in Bangladesh.  The G-I approach engages local entrepreneurs to develop small businesses which provide this service for a small fee together with creation of local e-hubs for information provision/exchange for smallholder farmers.  The entrepreneurs do soil tests and provide nutrient management recommendations to smallholder farmers. Soil testing is done using a kit and fertilizer recommendations are made by a custom developed software package called “mrittika”.  The SMART project will assess entrepreneur knowledge levels and skills, and will develop training materials for G-I to use in improving local entrepreneurs’ capacities to market the service and to interact effectively with farmers.

Skills Needed: Soils and agronomy or horticulture, education, extension communication, rural sociology, marketing strategies or computer science

For more information: http://www.grameen-intel.com/

Dates of project: January 4 - 17, 2013   

Location: Dhaka, Bangladesh with field visits to G-I trial areas.

Project Leaders:

John Duxbury (jmd17@cornell.edu) Dept. of Crop and Soil Sciences

Julie Lauren ( jgl5@cornell.edu) Dept. of Crop and Soil Sciences

Company Profile:
 
The University of KZN University in connection with the Swayimane Community 
 
Project Description and Goals:

The Swayimane Zulu Community in KZN is interested in developing a new value chain to market horticultural crops to large-scale retailers.  This SMART team will assess agronomic, economic, infrastructure and social constraints to building this value chain.  Methods will include mapping of natural resources and social networks within the community, to identify strategic investments and skills development that will to lead to enhanced production, post-harvest handling and collaborative marketing of these crops.  The project team will include KZN faculty and graduate students. 

Skills Requirement: 
 
Horticulture, soils and agronomy, small-farmer management, market analysis, community development, social network mapping,
 
Additional information:
 
This project is a first of a three-year initiative that builds an innovative partnership with The University of KZN
 
Exact dates: 
 
January 6-16, 2013 
 
Exact location:
 
Town/city, Country – Pietermaritzburg,  South Africa
 
Project leader and detailed contact information:

Anu Rangarajan, Department of Horticulture, ar47@cornell.edu

Country Profile:
Zambia is a landlocked country of Southern Africa bordered on the south by Zimbabwe.  It is home of Victoria Falls and many natural parks rich which African mega-fauna.  Zambia is a country of many ethnic groups including speakers of Bemba, Nyanja, and Tonga among many other languages; English is an official language.   The majority of the population are Christian and there are sizable Muslim and Hindu minorities.  The government is a republic and with president Michael Sata elected in 2011.  Populations are concentrated around the capital city, Lusaka, and in the northwestern copperbelt where copper mining dominates the economy.  The country is relatively urbanized for Sub-Saharan Africa, with an urban population of 36%.  Among the agricultural sector, maize and indigenous cattle are the most valuable products, with sugar cane, cassava, and groundnut, supplementing the diet.   Just last year Zambia was promoted to a lower-middle-income economy possibly due to real GDP growth above 6% per year since 2005. 

Organization Profile:
COMACO is a novel, emerging company in Zambia that is pioneering an innovative way for making markets and conservation work together. It produces IT’S WILD!, a special brand of organic, value-added processed products that come from the farmers who live with wildlife. 

 
COMACO targets poor, food insecure families - the people who are most likely to poach wildlife or burn forests for charcoal. COMACO member farmers are then organized into producer groups to promote a traditionally Zambian group commitment to better agricultural practices. COMACO then provides training in a diversity of legal, income-generating skills focused on sustainable agriculture. Creating local depots within producer group areas provide market access to previously disenfranchised farmers who are finally able to receive market price for selling surplus grains. Regional trade centers provide reliable transfer of commodities to high paying urban markets, and act as training centers for ongoing learning. Finally, a formalized agreement with producer groups to adhere to sustainable land use practices qualifies the farmer for conservation dividends that reward the farmer for taking a chance on this new approach. 

 
To support the full adoption of these skills, COMACO buys any surplus crops grown from member farmers at fair market prices and resells them as processed, value-added products branded under the name IT’S WILD!. Over 75 rural depots now bring market access to previously isolated and disenfranchised local rural farmers. Men and women from the over 30,000 COMACO farming families bring their surplus maize, beans, soybeans, rice, groundnuts and honey to their trading depot, where COMACO makes cash payments directly to the farmer.  COMACO trucks then take the raw commodities to the CTCs where food-processing facilities and trained staff take over, processing and packaging the finished IT’S WILD! products which now include honey, peanut butter, maize meal, maize-soy nutritional food blends, and most recently dried mangoes and wild mushrooms. (excerpt from www.itswild.org)
Website: www.itswild.org

Definition of Task:
COMACO is interested in a team of students to assist with Food Science functions related to the expansion of the IT’S WILD brand.  The organization is in the process of expanding their processing facilities and capabilities.  Expansion will make new product development possible, and also brings opportunities to improve the quality and safety of existing products as they are transitioned to improved processing lines.  Yet, all expansion requires significant resource investments.  The SMART team would help guide COMACO’s investments in expansion, particularly along three major projects:

1. Assessment of all product food safety and quality issues.  COMACO is working to improve food safety and quality ultimately for certification against a globally recognized standard, e.g. ISO22000:2005.  As a prerequisite, food safety and quality standards must be set for each product and capacity built to achieve those standards.  Team efforts towards this goal may include: product assessment, process monitoring, and staff training.  The team may also prepare documentation for COMACO ISO 22000:2005 certification.

2.  Development of a quick-cooking bean product. Dry beans are an important source of dietary protein for many Zambians, but the traditional cooking method of long simmering over an open fire strains local fuel resources.  COMACO would like to develop a quick-cooking bean product to meet Zambians desire for beans while conserving their cooking fuel.

3. Analysis of scale-up needs for puffed snack and cereal products.  COMACO is currently developing extruded snack and cereal products on the pilot-scale.  If their product development is successful, they will need a complement analysis of the costs, equipment requirements, and safety issues involved in reaching production volumes that satisfy market demands.
The project team would communicate with senior leadership at COMACO to determine their specific goals.  In Zambia the team would work closely with COMACO staff, particularly the food technologists at the processing centers in Chipata and Serenje.

Skill Requirements:
While technical skills will be important for success in this project, equally important are the social skills, experiences, interests, and beliefs that are important in working across borders in a multicultural country.  Some specific requirements are:

1. Ability to learn from people of all walks of life and cultural backgrounds
2. Ability to listen well to learn from others.
3. Ability to communicate technical knowledge clearly to diverse audiences
4. Possess team leadership and followership skills
5. Knowledge of the fundamentals of food science and technology
6. Experience and/or interest food product development
7. Experience and/or interest food quality and safety
8. Experience and/ or interest in training others on technical tasks

Project Leader/Organizer:

Carem Moraru, cjm24@cornell.edu, Department of Food Science

Matthew Stasiewicz, ms984@cornell.edu, Department of Food Science

Phone:  313-212-7486 (cell)

Soyuz Foods - Philippines

Company or organization’s profile:  

Soyuz Foods International Inc. (SFI) is a privately held company operating in Manila.  The company, owned by Helen and Arnold del Rosairo, is an emerging calamansi processors with operations in Luzon and Mindanao.  Calamansi is an indigenous citrus fruit grown in the Philippines that is gaining recognition for its potential in global markets and for possible positive impacts on rural communities.  SFI currently exports high-quality concentrated calamansi juice to Korea and Japan, however the company is in search of strategic options to expand the growth of their business and thereby advance the transformation of an industry in this emerging economy.  

Project description and goals: 

To develop a strategic management case study of SFI, work with companies in their “cluster”, and identify elements of an industrial policy for the emerging calamansi industry of the Philippines

Skills needed: 

Strategic management, marketing, horticulture, community development

Exact dates:

January 7-17, 2013

Location:

Manila, Philippines

Project leader and detailed contact information: 

Professors Chris Wien (hcw2@cornell.edu) Department of Horticulture

Ralph Christy (rdc6@cornell.edu) Dyson School of AEM/CIIFAD

Baba’s Jem – South Africa

Company profile:  

Baba’s Jem is a small, woman-owned, agribusiness that produces jams, chutneys, and achars according to Cape Malay recipes, a cuisine traditional in the south-western part of South Africa (the area surrounding Cape Town).  Eileen Baron, the company’s owner, makes her range of products by hand, using her own recipes.  The company is located in Ceres, a small, picturesque town about an hour and a half from Cape Town, where agriculture and tourism are two key economic activities.  Capitalizing on the latter, Baba’s Jem also operates a small café, where customers can taste traditional Cape Malay dishes, watch Eileen prepare the jams in her kitchen, and purchase the products to take home with them.

Project description and goals:

Although Baba’s Jem has been around since 2004, it is yet to attain long-term sustainability.  The primary challenge for the owner/manager is the lack of funding to grow the business and begin to either expand the existing market (i.e., the café) or penetrate new markets (local and international). The purpose of the SMART trip is threefold:

1. Document and publish the case study of Baba’s Jem as an SME in an emerging economy.

2. Develop a marketing plan to help the company penetrate current and new markets to increase their sales volumes.

3. Draft business plan that the company can use to business plan to apply for funding from both government programs and commercial banks. 

Skills needed: 

Good understanding of business and development frameworks

Developing and evaluating business plan

Developing a marketing plan strategy development

Good writing skills (the case study will be published)

NB:  Students will be expected to work closely with the La Grazia Olive team.

Dates: 5 to 14 January 2013

Location: Team will be staying in Stellenbosch at Villa Grande Guest House.

Project leader and detailed contact information

Dr. Krisztina Tihanyi

Visiting Scholar

CIIFAD

B75 Mann Library

Email: kzt1@cornell.edu, Mobile: +16072800176

Strategic management and fund raising consulting for Cancer Resource and Education (CaRE), Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Organization Profile:

The Cancer Resource and Education (CaRE) Center of Excellence is a cooperative project with Universiti Putra Malaysia and Cornell University, among many other partners. CaRE was formally initiated as a breast cancer education program in 2003, with the major goal being to build a sustainable program for and by Malaysians.  The idea originated from conversations among two friends, both of whom are cancer survivors, one of whom is the leader of this project and the second the Director of the CaRE Program.  Through the eyes of other cancer patients, their families, and health care providers they saw a need for breast cancer education that was both culturally and linguistically appropriate The initial focus of the project was the translation and dissemination of educational materials from English to Bahasa Melayu to both public and private government hospitals and clinics throughout Malaysia, as at that time there were very few materials available that were not in English, and even those were not readily available. Over time the project has expanded in numerous other areas of service to breast cancer patients and survivors, their families and friends, health care professionals, university students, and the general public. A sampling of these services include a variety of different types of print and web-based materials in Bahasa Melayu, and more recently in Mandarin and Tamil (as well as English); the opening of a model resource center;  continuing education programs for health care professionals; a telephone answer line;  counseling services; hosting of support groups; and public awareness programs. In the past two years, the CaRE center has widened its scope to provide education related to other types of cancer.  As of May 2012, the program formally became the CaRE Center of Excellence, under the Deputy Vice-Chancellor for Extension at UPM, with a fully funded budget as well as grants and contracts from government and nongovernmental organizations, and businesses.

Website:www.cancereducation.org.my/

Blog:http://care-upm.blogspot.com

Project Description:

Definition of Task:

The primary task for this project is described under “Donor Development and Management”. In addition, depending on the number and interests of team, we may assist in a research project related to cancer survivorship, and also other “small” specified tasks requested by the Center staff while we are in residence (for example, reviewing and providing feedback to graduate students on their research, presenting at a graduate seminar).

1. Donor Development and Management. One of the projects that a SMART Team, who worked with CaRE in 2012, investigated was a new fund raising program for CaRE that would be a collaborative effort between CaRE and Cornell Club Malaysia in the raising of funds for targeted programs that CaRE offers. Although a tentative agreement was reached between CaRE and the Cornell Club there has not been adequate staff to follow-up with this much needed project. A plan is needed that would be developed and initiated by the SMART team in cooperation with key members of the Cornell Club and CaRE staff for how to ensure an effective on-going fund raising effort by the Cornell Club.  The planning process would begin as soon as the SMART Team for 2013 would be put together, as well as some pre-planning by the leader of the team.
2. Other Activities. In addition, project team members would be provided the opportunity to meet with key stakeholders, including those who were involved at the various stages throughout the program’s development. Through these meetings, they will gain a clear understanding of the major twists and turns that were taken in the process of developing a sustainable program.

Skill Requirements:

Students interested in working with a non-governmental university-based extension, education, and development program are welcomed to apply. More specifically the following skills, experiences and/or interests are needed to work in this multicultural setting: 

(1) ability to listen well and be a learner;

(2) management and organizational skills;

(3) experience and/or interest in donor relations;

(4) experience and/or interest in health education programs for adults; and

(5) belief in the importance of cultural knowledge as foundational to practice in multicultural nations.

In addition, if students were to work with a research project, research skills would be required.

Suggested Timeline and Logistics:

December 31: Leader arrives

January 2:        SMART team members arrive

January 3:        SMART team project begins

January 17:      SMART team project ends

January 18       SMART team returns home

Project Leader:

Rosemary S. Caffarella, Ph.D. is a Professor Emeritus of Adult Education and International Professor of Education. She has worked with the CaRE Program since its inception in 2003, first as the Co-Director of the program, and currently as an advisor, colleague, researcher, and an education and development specialist.

Email:  rsc29@cornell.edu

Phone: 607-227-7717

Office:  115 Kennedy Hall

Additional Information:

Team members who are interested are welcomed to return to Malaysia and continue their work with the CaRE project during the summer of 2013 for a four to six week period, at a time that is mutually acceptable to the CaRE Center, the team member, and the leader.

La Grazia Olives – South Africa

Company profile:  

La Grazia Olives is a startup olive farm and processor with a vision  “to produce quality wholesome olive oil and adhere to proudly South African values and standards for national and international consumers”.  The company is located in Tulbagh, which is about an hour’s drive from Cape Town. By making use of a South African labor force, La Grazia wishes to help alleviate the problem of unemployment within the local community and purchasing only South African products and adhering to the values and standards of the Proudly South African brand.  La Grazia Olives currently produces two products for the market: (1) Cold pressed extra virgin olive oil for which the current capacity is 2500– 4000 liters annually and (2) Preserved black olives with current volumes at 2 metric tones of raw olives. Both products are sold at local supermarkets, hotel, deli and to walk in customers.  

Project description and goals:

La Grazia Olives seeks to grow rapidly in the next few years but faces two major challenges: (1) obtaining funds to grow the the business including the purchase of heavy processing machinery, (2) the company needs an aggressive marketing plan to penetrate markets within South Africa and abroad.  The purpose of the SMART trip is threefold.

1. Document and publish the case study of La Grazia Olives as an SME in an emerging economy.

2. Develop a marketing plan to help the company penetrate current and new markets to increase their sales volumes.

3. Draft business plan that the company can use to business plan to apply for funding from both government programs and commercial banks. 

Skills needed: 

Good understanding of business and development frameworks

Developing and evaluating business plan

Developing a marketing plan strategy development

Good writing skills (the case study will be published)

NB:  Students will be expected to work closely with the Baba’s Jem team.

Dates: 5 to 14 January 2013

Location: Team will be staying in Stellenbosch at Villa Grande Guest House.

Project leader and detailed contact information

Dr. Ed Mabaya

Assistant Director of CIIFAD and Research Associate in AEM

B75 Mann Library

Email: em37@cornell.edu,  Mobile: +16072800264

Company or organization’s profile:  

Bee Natural Uganda Ltd (BNU) is a small/medium enterprise (SME) founded by Maria Odido in 2008 that currently employs a staff of 20+ personnel. Today, Bee Natural Uganda works with a network of 1,200 rural beekeepers, from whom BNU purchases raw materials. The raw materials are then processed at BNU’s processing plant in western Uganda and the products are sold throughout the East Africa region. Bee Natural Uganda Ltd.’s honey holds 70% of Uganda’s honey market and is the second fastest selling honey in Kenya. In addition to honey, BNU also produces beeswax, propolis, candles, and hive materials.

Bee Natural Uganda is focused on having a positive social impact on the rural Ugandan population.  To achieve this, BNU helps provide steady income to rural farmers and assists them in gaining the financing necessary to purchase more efficient modern beehive materials.  Additionally, BNU trains female and male beekeepers in proper apiary care and harvesting techniques, which increases the quantity of raw materials produced and improves the quality of the product. To particularly address the needs of the rural female population, the processing plant employs 70% women from low educational backgrounds. Recent efforts have also included tree planting and tree seed propagation by farmers in apiary regions to provide their bees with more diverse forage and subsequently higher yields, while also preserving the local environment.

Project description and goals:

The purpose of the SMART trip will be to develop a strategic case study examining Bee Natural Uganda Ltd.’s evolution and current situation as a regional producer of honey and bee products that is continuing to develop and expand.  Bee Natural Uganda is an important sustainable business model with strong downstream impact on rural areas as well as a positive upstream impact when BNU’s products head towards retail outlets.

Skills needed: 

Marketing, Apiculture, experience with agriculture projects in Africa, community /rural development, experience with women’s empowerment or women-owned businesses in developing countries

Exact dates:

Program will run January 7 – January 17 with students departing the 18th

Exact location: Town/city, Country

Kampala, Uganda and the Western Uganda region

Project leader and detailed contact information

Margaret Lynch, CIIFAD Program Coordinator

Email: MKL74@cornell.edu

SMART Project:  The GABA Rice Project Group, Thailand

Organization Profile:  

The GABA Rice Project Group (Sakon Nakon Province, Thailand) a project of the King Mongkut’s University of Technology Thonburi (KMUTT) and the Thai Royal Project Foundation

Project description and goals: 

King Mongkut’s University of Technology Thonburi (KMUTT) has been working to improve the quality of life for villagers in Tao Ngoi, Sakon Nakon province, since 1978. The most successful occupational development initiative was a tomato canning facility run by the Royal Project. In 2007, budget cuts caused the Royal Project Marketing organization, Doi Kham, to look at shutting down the facility. Although the facility remains open, the concern caused by the economic implications for the community by such a decision caused KMUTT to work with the community to identify other possible occupational development opportunities, resulting in the founding of the GABA Rice Project Group.

The GABA Rice Project Group, formed in 2007, currently consists of 68 members, 12 of which process the GABA rice. GABA rice is rice that has been germinated through a process of soaking the rice and germinating it in bags. The rice is then steamed, dried, and milled. Germinating the rice produces Gamma-aminobutyric acid, improving health benefits and making it more suitable for sale in higher end markets. However, the current production process in this community is not very profitable. A preliminary survey of the group shows that this is due to a lack of access to markets, process inefficiency, and a lack of certification in Good Management Practices (GMP) and other labels.

Therefore, the SMART project team will work with a team of KMUTT architecture and food engineering students to improve the current processing and marketing conditions for the GABA Rice Project Group. Specifically, the KMUTT students will be working with the community over the fall semester to complete a community and area survey, and begin work designing a central processing facility. SMART students will be provided with a full update of student progress and result summary before leaving for Thailand and will assist in facility design, certification and marketing.

Skill Requirements: 

The broad range of project requirements makes most any skill sets/majors helpful for the project. However, students in Food Science, Landscape Architecture, City and Regional Planning, Biological and Environmental Engineering, and Civil and Environmental Engineering are particularly encouraged to apply.

Additional information: 

KMUTT is a public university that supports the mission of the Thai Royal Project Foundation.  The Thai Royal Project Foundation is a public organization started by the Royal Family in the late 1950s to help alleviate poverty, reduce dependence on opium cultivation, and promote national security in remote border regions of Thailand.  KMUTT has been involved in supporting Royal Project initiatives since the 1970s. Currently their projects focus on improving the sustainability of community organizations producing local crafts and specialized agricultural produce.

Websites: 

KMUTT: http://www2.kmutt.ac.th/en_index.aspx

Thai Royal Project Foundation: www.royalprojectthailand.com (in Thai)

Exact Locations, Suggested Timeline, and Logistics: 

Students will arrive in Bangkok and will be housed at the Bangkuntien campus of KMUTT. There they will meet with the KMUTT student team, complete ice-breakers and team-building activities, and review the current project status. They will then be taken to Sakon Nakon province and introduced to the community project partners. The project team will be housed at the community center owned and run by our KMUTT project partners. Students will return to Bangkok for a final debriefing before the end of the project.  (Exact dates forthcoming)

 Project leaders and contact information: 

This project will be coordinated through KMUTT with the support of two Cornell alumni currently working there. Please feel free to direct any inquiries to: Rachel Dunn (Biological and Environmental Engineering): ra2dunn@gmail.com or Worrasit Tantinipankul (Architecture and Planning): tantini3@gmail.com

Leaders:

Terry Plater (tdp3@cornell.edu)

Yoanna Ferrara (yf68@cornell.edu)