Archive for December, 2009

Monday, December 21, 2009 – Friday, December 25, 2009

For the second week running, we focused on clean drinking water solutions on the Twitter Social Enterprise of the Day.  From Tanclean that provides an innovative tank cleaning service that reduces the  contamination and germs in your water to Peer Water Exchange and India Water Portal that spread information and encouraging collaboration in the sector, we have tried to cover those making significant steps in the direction.

Monday, December 21, 2009

Social Enterprise of the Day – MAGE Water Management

Mage Water Management is a solution provider for de-centralized water supply in locations where salt water or brackish water is the only water resources available. With R&D offices and core activities based in Munich, Germany, the MAGE Water Management Company prides itself on its “watercone” a simple, lightweight and mobile solar powered water desalinator that takes salt or brackish water and generates freshwater in highly disadvantaged coastal regions of the world.

Tuesday, December 22, 2009

Social Enterprise of the Day – Aquatabs

Aquatabs, developed by Medentech are water purification tablets or are often called water disinfection tablets / water disinfection tabs used for emergency water treatment in disaster situations and for long term point of use household water treatment programmes. Used by all of the world’s major aid agencies, NGOs, relief organisations, peace keeping / defence forces and Ministries of Health, Aquatabs are also used for water treatment by international tourists.

Wednesday, December 23, 2009

Social Enterprise of the Day – Tanclean Pvt. Ltd.

Tanclean is an innovative solution to clean and disinfect water storage tanks, hence reducing risks of water borne diseases and contaminations. Using a 6-stage cleaning process using proprietary antibacterial agents that are safe, effective and eco-friendly, Tanclean completes the process in 60 minutes that ensures it’s cleanliness for the next 90 days.

Thursday, December 24, 2009

Social Enterprise of the Day – Peer Water Exchange

A unique map-driven platform for the water sector, Peer Water Exchange combines people, process, and technology to manage water and sanitation projects around the world – from application, selection, funding, implementation, and impact assessment. Easy to navigate and use through both maps and text, PWX is transparent, efficient, and effective. PWX helps competitors become collaborators, and work together to learn and share and create the greatest impact possible.

Friday, December 25, 2009

Social Enterprise of the Day – India Water Portal

India Water Portal that aims for safe, sustainable water for all provides news, discussions, events, community, videos, photos, blogs, information and insights on the sector. This open, inclusive, web-based platform for sharing water management knowledge amongst practitioners and the general public aims to draw on the rich experience of water-sector experts, package their knowledge and add value to it through technology and then disseminate it to a larger audience through the internet. The Portal is a voluntary effort being coordinated by Arghyam, a non-profit trust that works in the area of water.

An interview with Paul Polak

A few weeks ago, we conducted our first On the Spot interview with social entrepreneur Paul Polak in Chennai, India at the Villgro UNCONVENTION.  We haven’t learned how to edit yet, so the video is a bit long (sorry!).  But, if you haven’t heard or seen Polak speak before, he is a wealth of knowledge, and a true pioneer when it comes to thinking about practical approaches to reaching the base of the pyramid customer.  When you have a few minutes, give it a watch!

Beyond Profit is currently hosting a discussion forum on SocialEdge.org focused on hybrid and dual structures for social enterprise. Come join the conversation, or read the comments and questions already on the table.

Why are we talking about hybrid structures?  The desire to combine social and commercial in the pursuit of an outcome has led to creative ways to structure an enterprise—often known as a hybrid model or dual structure, because it combines a nonprofit arm with a for-profit arm.

While hybrid structures are innovative, they are, in essence, stopgap measures to get around the fact that in most countries, there is no legal label that meets the needs of an entity that exists to provide social good and yet makes a profit. Is splitting a venture into for-profit and non-profit actually just a crafty way of getting around the fact that your venture is NOT economically self-sufficient? Is it truly possible for a profit-making company to separate itself from its nonprofit counterpart?Could the creation of new legal structures actually slow down real large-scale change in mainstream business?

Join us on SocialEdge to explore these questions about hybrid and dual structures over the next few weeks.

Monday, December 14, 2009 – Friday, December 18, 2009

3.575 million people die each year from water-related disease.*

884 million people, lack access to safe water supplies, approximately one in eight people.**

Every 15 seconds, a child dies from a water-related disease.***

Access to clean drinking water is a global crisis. While water is a renewable resource, its supply is finite and the lack of clean drinking water is one of the biggest causes for the world’s diseases and poverty. The good news however, is that low cost water purification technologies are available and organizations are working towards educating the developing world and policy makers about their use and implementation. Over the next two weeks, we will enlist ten such organizations that we believe are making impressive step in this direction.

Monday, December 14, 2009

Social Enterprise of the Day – Pureit

With a tag line saying “As safe as boiled water”, Hindustan Unilever’s Pureit water purifier is a step towards affordable protection against water borne diseases.  What makes Pureit great is that it doesn’t need gas, electric or water supply to operate! Killing all disease-causing germs , bacteria and viruses, Pureit  removes all pesticides, particles and impurities from drinking water.

Tuesday, December 15, 2009

Social Enterprise of the Day – Tata Swach

The new Swach water purifier from the trustworthy Tata group of companies is the latest addition to low cost water purifiers in the Indian market. With its 3-pronged positioning as “No need to boil, No electricity required and No running water required”, the “Swach” (pure in hindi), is already making waves. Running on the internationally tested TRSF technology, the Tata Swach is set to make its mark in the sector.

Wednesday, December 16, 2009

Social Enterprise of the Day – WaterHealth

WaterHealth International is an organization committed to providing end-to-end solutions at every stage of the water cycle. WaterHealth Centres represent the flagship of WaterHealth International’s community systems product line, putting the UVWaterworks™ technology to work as the centerpiece of a unique water facility. The average WaterHealth Centre is designed to provide a community of 3,000 residents with up to 20 liters of safe, affordable drinking water per person per day. Their Water Stores, yet another initiative, sell disinfected water at prices far below prevailing prices of bottled or other packaged water. WaterHealth’s stores are differentiated by high quality and major throughput advantages over competing technologies, thus providing capacity to serve relatively large areas from a single store.

Thursday, December 17, 2009

Social Enterprise of the Day – PUR Water Filtration Systems

PUR Water Filtration Systems provide a wide range of water purifying products including faucets, jugs, dispensers, purifying refrigerators as well as flavored water dispensers.  To draw public attention to the billion people who don’t have access to clean drinking water, PUR organized a climb to the top of Mt. Kilimanjaro as part of the “Summit on the Summit” initiative.

Friday, December 18, 2009

Social Enterprise of the Day – Aquaya

The Aquaya Institute aims at bringing safe water innovations to those in need in low-income countries through technology and distribution. In order towards delivering innovation for reducing waterborne disease Aquaya focuses on studying and leveraging proven technologies, adapting them for use in resource-poor settings. By identifying effective safe water delivery models and measuring the influences on the adoption of water innovation by low-income households, Aquaya has made measurable impact to the lives of many. Aquaya’s Research projects aim to address the gap between field trials and a product’s efficacy during real-life usage.

* World Health Organization. 2008. Safer Water, Better Health: Costs, benefits, and sustainability of interventions to protect and promote health.

** UNICEF/WHO. 2008. Progress on Drinking Water and Sanitation: Special Focus on Sanitation.

*** Number estimated from statistics in the 2006 United Nations Human Development Report.

The following is a continuation of an earlier post by Beyond Profit Guest Blogger and agri-expert, Venkat Subramanian.

So who are these middlemen?

As the produce changes hands from the first local agent, to intermediate dealers, wholesalers, and end retailers, across each jump there is a repeat of the same price fixation routine. As there are no Harvard economists sitting and planning the demand supply, most calls are made on-the-fly and often there is no clear logic. The core idea is to sell the stock as quickly as possible and maximize returns as much as possible. That’s the primary and sole driver.

They keep close tabs on how many truckloads have been loaded up from villages and are on the way to a particular market. On a given day, if there are 20 trucks of tomatoes coming IN to the auction market, they may set price at INR10 (US$ 0.20). If they realize that only 10 truckloads are coming, then they increase it to INR20 (US$ 0.40). Often the farmers are unaware of this silent collusion between the transporters, loaders, and even local dabbha/mote wallahs and how information flows back and forth along the chain. Hence once price is set, it is unviable for farmers to even look for any other market as distances are too far and expensive. As a result, the farmer is forced to accept or dump the product in frustration.

These fluctuations impact both end points severely – the farmer and ultimate buyer.

But what about government regulated markets? Do they operate more fairly?

Has the government ever been ‘fair’? Well, strangely, these government markets also don’t have much volume to dictate terms. So they follow the leader. This is like the scenario where the Mumbai/NSE Stock Exchanges are the key players and other regional stock exchanges just mimic their moves.

So why don’t we just replace the middlemen? Aren’t Reliance and other stores doing that?

Is there ANY trade which operates without brokers/middlemen? Stock brokers, insurance brokers, real estate brokers, even marriage brokers – all have to be wiped out then! Well, they do play some role, which is breaking the bulk and splitting wholesale to retail volumes. We do need intermediaries, but what has happened is they have not added much value or professionalism in this trade and hence the agricultural traders/agents have become a very crude, hated community.

Well, most big name retailers are busy licking their wounds from the rapid splurge and expansion and the current recession. They too buy only from the local wholesale mandis. Don’t believe us – go there at 4 in the morning and look at their name brand trucks.

How much do prices vary from farm to city?

For example, today, the farm prices for tomatoes is around Rs 3/kg (US$ 0.06/kg). In the city is selling around Rs 18-20/kg (US$ 0.36-0.40/kg). On average, vegetable markup is 4 to 5 times.

How come no one is doing anything about this?

Well, for starters because YOU as a customer have been sleeping. The day YOU decide to wake up is when change will happen. In every industry, the products and prices are always driven by customer demand and tastes. But in India, the agri produce trade has always been driven by the supplier (or middlemen)  and the end customers have faced the brunt.

So what should one do to change this?

Start asking questions. Why? In India, we are always very good at passing the blame on to someone else – corrupt politicians, media, and foreign hands – anything goes. But if YOU don’t care about what YOU eat, no one else will.

But be considerate of the poor little sabjeewallah who gets it to your doorstep. He too, like the farmer, has very little control of what happens in-between. Don’t kill the messenger. They hardly make INR150. But he is very knowledgeable about what happens and can greatly assist if you trust and appreciate his needs.

Next time, watch the price bill carefully for tell tale signs of price rise. Find local markets and roadside markets if close by, as they will be cheaper. Find where the products came from (in Chennai, they will all say Ooty, but trust me, REAL Ooty vegetables hardly reach Chennai), what chemicals have been used in transit/ripening etc..  Be a conscious consumer, because you are what you eat.

The Right to Information (RTI) act is a powerful weapon. Most government statistics on the agricultural sector are at least five years old and often projected from the last census. There is NO system tracking the exact cultivation patterns. Surprised? And we have been dumping several thousand crores without even knowing what is being sown.  Ask your agricultural ministers when was the last time they visited a village and talked to a farmer?

Venkat Subramanian is the Founder and Managing Director of Matchbox Solutions, a company which uses technology to solve critical issues in India.  Efarm, one such solution, uses technology to provide supply chain efficiency for procuring and delivering fruits and vegetables grown on rural farms.

Venkat Subramanian is the Founder and Managing Director of Matchbox Solutions, a company which uses technology to solve critical issues in India.  Efarm, one such solution, uses technology to provide supply chain efficiency for procuring and delivering fruits and vegetables grown on rural farms.

While most of us were busy tracking cricket scores and gold prices, tomato prices have quietly shot up from about Rs 5/kg (US$ 0.10/kg) to Rs30/kg (US$ 0.60/kg) in Chennai’s retail market as of December 1. That’s a whopping 500%! If the stock market traders were watching this, they would have had a heart attack. But there wasn’t even a whisper in the media.

Ask your mom or wife, they’ll tell you more such stories of the see-saw in the farm produce segment lately. Though most have a passive knowledge of this, the scale of it hasn’t really hit hard. So here is a hard hitting, rude wake up call.

What is the average turnover per day of vegetables and fruits in India?

India’s DAILY turnover in vegetables and fruits is about Rs. 275 crores (US$ 59 million). To put some perspective, that is 3 times the average daily turnover of Tata Consultancy Services (one of India’s largest and oldest corporations)! Now that I have caught your attention, the typical ‘wastage’ per day, is around Rs. 130 crores (US$ 27 million). This is roughly the market capitalization of Cognizant (CTS) today.

In summary, it’s a LOT bigger than the Indian IT sector, which has always been the apple in the eye of everyone. And what further rubs salt in the wound is that agriculture has been always been run by uneducated, old, rural people with little advanced technologies. Whereas the Indian IT industry employs the cream of the world!

So, if tomato prices go up by say 10% a day, it is equivalent to….

• Rs. 10 crores (US$ 2.1 million) of increase in revenue
• That is 10 times the turnover of all of Reliance Fresh stores put together! Incidentally, Reliance Fresh doesn’t make a single rupee profit from its fresh vegetables sales! (Source: Their own balance sheet and financial statements)

Did we hear economists and industry analysts all along saying there is no money in agriculture and it is a slow growth industry?

Most economists are only reporting on inflation and deflation rates and still arguing over what goes into the wholesale price index. Well, economists don’t cook. Ask any housewife and she would tell you that tomatoes, onions, and potatoes are the “tri-murthis” of any Indian kitchen. That decides which way the price pendulum swings.

Here we unravel some of the street knowledge and best kept secrets of the Indian sabjee (vegetable) trail. Your comments are welcome. » Continue reading “Pricing Vegetables”

In the social enterprise space these days, there is a particular emphasis on action. People want to see things being done. The don’t want to just hear talk. They want to see outputs. They want to see outcomes. Critics of the space seem to feel that there is a lot of talk and little action—there are a lot of great stories out there, but upon digging deep, some of these stories are just that, nice tales about what someone is thinking about doing.

It seems that all forums/events/conferences of late are out to turn this notion upside-down. Certainly the Khemka Forum, which took place in Hyderabad on December 8th and 9th, had this very aim. The Forum’s promise was: “to provide you with cutting edge advantage by demonstrable short term “wins” while maintaining the overarching objective of building the “eco-system” of social entrepreneurship in India.”

I must be honest, for the first day and a half of the Forum I was a bit disappointed. There was a slight sense in the crowd that something was missing. Many of us had seen the speakers before. There were not too many new faces in the crowd. It was the usual suspects, per say. There wasn’t much “action.”

And then, day two, circa 11.30 am, it all changed. At this time, I attended a consultancy clinic entitled “Constructing New Forms of Knowledge Creation,” led by the fabulous Matt Nash, Managing Director of CASE at Duke. The aim: to build bridges between academics and practitioners. It sought to answer the following questions: How do we use the skills of academics to advance practice and theory? How do we find a form of communication and organization that actually engages with practitioners on the ground, while not devaluing the academic roles? What action research agenda is needed to advance the field of social entrepreneurship in India?

This concept of action remained prominent throughout the session. We plotted a roadmap. Finally…

We heard from the practitioners and from the academics. The tensions: practitioners want timely, actionable, accessible, and relevant knowledge. On the other hand, academics seek to develop theoretical frameworks. The end-product is written for other academics. Because of the incentive structure of academia and what is required to receive tenure, academics are rarely rewarded for taking the time to translate their work for practitioners. Hence, the practitioners feel that the academics come in, take valuable time from the practitioners, make suggestions about how to improve their organizations, then leave. They run in the other direction when it comes to implementation. Hence, from the viewpoint of practitioners, time spent with academics is time wasted.

So what needs to be done? Well here is where the action begins. We need to bring practice into the classroom. And we need to get academics and students into the field, implementing their ideas. Academics and students have an advantage in that they are in a position to see patterns and trends that an individual practitioner or a small group of practitioners are likely to miss. Academics have the training to bring a critical perspective and rigor to knowledge development. At the same time, it was argued that it is much more valuable for a student to spend time on the ground, working for a social enterprise, than to “solve” the issues of the social enterprise from the ivory tower. Somehow, we must align the two.

And, we hope that the relationships that were formed around this table in Hyderabad will be the first and necessary step in doing just that. Case studies will not longer simply benefit MBA students, but in the process of studying an organization in order to write a case study, the student will actually visit the social enterprise, spend time on the ground, and help in the implementation of the case study’s recommendations. Systems will be built to ensure the proper functioning of this. And we will take the lead in doing this.

This is just the very beginning of ecosystem building between academics and practitioners in the social enterprise space, the very beginning of fruitful, long-term engagement in the future. A sign of success: we have already been in contact about all of this, and the conference has only been over a mere 48 hours.

So what do I think? I think we need to drastically rethink how forums/events/conferences are being organized. We need to get creative. The real meat, the real action happens when dialogue can occur, when people are seated around a table, throwing ideas up for debate and discussing paths to success. It doesn’t occur during panel discussions or plenary speeches. It doesn’t even really occur during coffee breaks. So, let’s get planning…

And don’t miss ThinkChangeIndia’s coverage from the Khemka Forum – Day 1 and Day 2. There you will find great summaries of the daily activities.

Blogging from Villgro’s Unconvention in Chennai, India

Paul Polak, Founder of IDE, D-Rev and now Windhorse, has been talking to farmers for over three decades.  What do they want?  They want to make more money.  How?  They don’t know.  This is where Paul and his organizations generally jump in, providing new tools, new ideas, new solutions–all affordable, applicable, and practical.

In an interview earlier, I asked Paul about microfinance.  After all, if poor people want more money, can’t we just give them a dose of financial inclusion?  A sprinkle of microfinance, if you will?  Ahem, not necessarily.

If you give a homeless man in America a credit card with no constraints, he won’t necessarily get out of poverty.  He’ll likely grind himself into debt.

Microfinance is generally only as good as what it’s meant for, i.e., what matters is what that money is spent on.  If it is spent on food or a wedding or even education–it won’t change a family’s current situation.  But, if the loan is earmarked for a treadle pump, a tool that can create or dramatically improve a livelihood, then it provide real value.  A gift that keeps on giving, if you will.

Stay tuned for the entire video interview…to be posted soon.

Beyond Profit is blogging from Villgro’s Unconvention in Chennai, India.

We’re always told to think out of the box when trying to come up with a new idea, but often, when working in rural settings, it makes sense to think inside the box, working within the current constraints of low funding and low tech.

The reason?  Sometimes a simple solution can be the most ingenious, practical, and applicable one.  Take for example the company Shree Kamdhenu.  They have created centralized authomatic milk collection kiosks that use simple but appropriate technology to weigh the milk, insure hygiene, increase efficiency, and create transparency.  Before, farmers had to depend on manual systems which were unhygienic, laborious and prone to human error.  These automated systems allow farmers to get more money for their product because they are precise, and measure every last drop.  To date, 2,000 systems have been installed in rural areas (Gujurat, Maharastra, UP and Nepal).

Even simpler: the Mushroom Development Foundation.  The MDF brings mushroom farmers together into clusters so that they have more control over pricing their product: shrooms of all kinds.  On the other side of the equation, MDF also joins the vendors together, creating a parallel platform that allows the farmers and vendors to engage on fair footing.  There’s no technology here.  Just the power of collective strength and organization.

Another example, index pricing for farmers.  Think about this: what if your only option for buying a place ticket were to buy a ticket on your day of travel for whatever price was available?  » Continue reading “Innovating to Empower Farmers”

For businesses, transparency means the full, accurate, and timely disclosure of information. Being transparent—about progress and shortcomings—makes it more likely that assets will be accurately valued and allows prospective clients to see what they will get, before they actually do. Gray Matters Capital (GMC) in its 3rd Leadership Conference, made an attempt to reinstate this very fact among the Affordable Private Schools (APS) sector in Hyderabad last week.

However, spreading this message in schools that are working with low income communities and helping them understand the meaning and importance of transparency is a great challenge. There is a need to help school entrepreneurs improve their environments. But in the absence of any industry standards and with a current lack of information about the APS sector, comparison becomes difficult and so does the identification of changes required.

The three pillars of transparency are open communication, accountability, and measurability.  With transparency comes honesty, leading to value. GMC’s rating tool, developed in partnership with M-CRIL (Microfinance Rating International Limited) for rating Affordable Private Schools, encompasses the third pillar of transparency – measurability – and in turn triggers the need for the other two. The tool not only covers the academic achievements and infrastructure of the schools, but also looks at the learning environment and governance aspects.

The ratings tool can be used by any of the key players in the Affordable Private Schools ecosystem – schools, banks, educational investors, donors, parents, and educational service providers.  But, in reality, the rating tool will largely be used by the schools, in order to get themselves benchmarked against others. Hence, it is most likely that schools will have to get themselves rated, and they will bear the cost of the tool.

Though the appetite of such schools for this tool still needs to be tested, it is a step in the right direction. The tool can not only help the schools raise finance but also provides a competitive platform and hence motivation to perform better.

India has a population of 1.2 billion, with 30% of people below the age of 15. What does it mean for the world? It means that whatever we do has a large scale impact on everything, and the majority of future leaders of this world will be from India. So, ensuring that we create a lively and competitive environment for our future leaders through education becomes part of our responsibility.