from jack...
OK…so if you’re like me, you’re thinking, “Yeah…but…um… last time I checked, and unless you all took a learning annex on the way over on ‘Goat Herding 101’, I’m pretty sure none of you knows much about goat herding. So…how exactly do you propose to help 6 women in Kalavai to prosper with goat herding if all of you guys are Americans who probably only see goats in real life once a year at the St. Joseph County Fair?” Good question. The answer is a little easier than it may sound. See, we don’t know much about goats, but most Indians do. What they don’t know about are basic business concepts (i.e. profit/loss, market-based pricing, basic marketing, business structure, etc.). As a result, we helped them to build a business plan of action for their individual herds that interfaces with the community and community-based leadership that will hopefully “guarantee” their prolonged success over time. Here’s how the basics work:
1) A Regulatory Body (“RB”) comprised of community leaders will oversee the basic oversight of the 6 women owning micro-herds. The RB will also help to administer resources over time so that more and more people in the village can acquire resources and join the process.
2) An Executive Director (“ED”) will both report to the RB as well as carry out its day-to-day and tactical interface with the members of the community, serving as the primary point of contact for micro-herd owners when they have problems and also when they need to sell a goat for profit or income.
3) Each herd owner must keep a minimum of 3 goats at all times, and a growth rate of at least 1 goat per year (i.e. 3 goats this year, 4 goats next year, etc.). Since goats can give birth 2x/year and often bear 2-3 kids, this should still allow the herd owner to both sell 1-2+ for profit while still a) maintaining the critical mass of 3 and also b) growing the heard geometrically over time.
4) One of the first born kids to each micro-herd goes back to the RB. This is a one-time “gift” back to the community (i.e. it is not a “payment”, because the goats are given as gifts, not loans). These new goats are then given to another community member who would like to enter the goat-herding business as their “start-up”.
5) When a goat is sold at market, 10% of the total sale goes back to the RB for use within the community, either for the KC3 project or for other things that the RB determines are beneficial for the community.
When we presented the idea both the people making up the RB, the ED, and the candidate women to receive the herds, each responded with great questions and concerns. We talked through them, and reached a point of action whereby we all agreed to cooperate. So, in the end, you see that we’re basically helping them with “business model ideas” and not the technical savvy necessary to herd goats.
1) A Regulatory Body (“RB”) comprised of community leaders will oversee the basic oversight of the 6 women owning micro-herds. The RB will also help to administer resources over time so that more and more people in the village can acquire resources and join the process.
2) An Executive Director (“ED”) will both report to the RB as well as carry out its day-to-day and tactical interface with the members of the community, serving as the primary point of contact for micro-herd owners when they have problems and also when they need to sell a goat for profit or income.
3) Each herd owner must keep a minimum of 3 goats at all times, and a growth rate of at least 1 goat per year (i.e. 3 goats this year, 4 goats next year, etc.). Since goats can give birth 2x/year and often bear 2-3 kids, this should still allow the herd owner to both sell 1-2+ for profit while still a) maintaining the critical mass of 3 and also b) growing the heard geometrically over time.
4) One of the first born kids to each micro-herd goes back to the RB. This is a one-time “gift” back to the community (i.e. it is not a “payment”, because the goats are given as gifts, not loans). These new goats are then given to another community member who would like to enter the goat-herding business as their “start-up”.
5) When a goat is sold at market, 10% of the total sale goes back to the RB for use within the community, either for the KC3 project or for other things that the RB determines are beneficial for the community.
When we presented the idea both the people making up the RB, the ED, and the candidate women to receive the herds, each responded with great questions and concerns. We talked through them, and reached a point of action whereby we all agreed to cooperate. So, in the end, you see that we’re basically helping them with “business model ideas” and not the technical savvy necessary to herd goats.
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