A day in one of the best hotels: Taj Krishna. A hotel run by the Tata Group - what is not in this country?. Africans were collected to hear about Indian experiences to build up the country in order to learn. Indian agri stakeholders were present as well, the reason for attending for Sundara. He was so kind to take us there. We have learned a great deal on the current way of marketing and communications at Janani Foods compared to other companies, we have heard about companies trying to do the same kind of things more or less, generated ideas on fund raising, and due to Michels speech in French for these African countries with that background we also got 3 requests for information to market Janani in Africa. This besides 4 requests of local companies. So ... all excited we got back to the hotel at 4 pm to work on setting agendas for meetings, discussing what to sent upfront and what later, what to get out of a meeting, putting yourself in the shoes of the other "what do they want to get out of this" and where could we possible meet and partner? Prioritisation made whom to address first with what, and Friday will be spend to creating these tailored presentations and documents as part of the marketing plan deliverable. It seems we can start breaking the cycle of chikcen - and - egg conversations In the evening, Michel and I had arranged for an appointment with IBM. We were picked up in a very nice familiy car, and were brought to a luxereus restaurant. We had Western style of food, meaning we could recognise our food, it looked the way we would cook it, had some vegetables, desert and wine. All was very overwhelming to me, as our living standard is pretty low compared to all of this. The cost of my main course already was a full days allowance, the wine 3.5 days allowance ...an excessive eve for me. And really, we are in a good hotel with internet in a nice area by the way, but this was up to the extremes. I got to experience part of the upper class life here. Concluding the eve, we even an invite for the entire CSC group to go out to a more out of town friend was done.
Janani is looking to expand their network to all the districts of Andra Pradesh
I am here for 1.5 weeks now, and the conversations keep on coming down to Janani basically looking for funds (± 80K€ minimum, pref. 160K€) to move on from pilot stage to a company with some critical mass. The critical mass is required for some stakeholders and investors to jump onto this train.
Typically, the Janani Agriculture Facility Centers (JAFCs) will cover a cluster of 3 to 4 villages and serve around 1000 progressive farmers. Each center will support around 3000 to 4000 acres of cultivated lands that produce multiple crops. JAFCs will have state of art Information Technology and Communication Facilities. These Centres will be launched and managed by Agripreneurs. To manage these JAFCs, funds are required not only for the Agripeneurs but also at centralised corporate level. These funds now are lacking, and banks cannot provide loans by lack of securities. Promoters are diluting their stake to get strategic investments for scaling up operations in AP, before going in for IBM Technology Partnership and subsequent venture capital investments.
Ideas on how to raise funds are appreciated. I kindly request to to post them to my blog site.
The role of the global NGO partner is to work with IBM to identify Corporate Service Corps assignment opportunities in the destination countries and provide in-country and online support for the volunteers. The NGO partner leads in all logistical details relating to the in-country experience and ensure the volunteers are well prepared and supported throughout their in-country placement. Logistical details include in-country transport, lodging, food per diem, provision of cell phones, traveler’s health and evacuation insurance, airfare and where necessary language interpreters. The NGO partners also collaborate with IBM to provide detailed information on the country of work, selected projects, and community clients. NGO partners provide an in-country manager who is a host country national to support our teams while on assignment.
Australian Business Volunteers1
ABV came into existence in 1981 and has since completed over 5000 development projects across 16 countries. They deliver an array of capacity building solutions leveraging the skill and experience of volunteer experts. Each ABV solution is development focused and tailored to meet the specific needs of each client and partner. With almost 30 years of experience working within diverse cultural contexts, ABV continues to provide outcomes that are sustainable and contribute to the attainment of the United Nations Millennium Development Goals.
Client and Assignment Background
Janani Foods strive to increase farm profitability and improve farmers’ standard of living by providing innovative, personalised, and customised solutions to their problems at their farm gate, by harnessing the power of the latest developments in Agri-Science, Agri-Business and Information & Communication Technologies. Janani AgriServe functions through a network of small centers. There are currently three such centers operating in Andra Pradesh as pilots. Typically, the centres cover a cluster of three to four villages and serve around 1000 progressive farmers. Each center supports around 3000 to 4000 acres of cultivated lands that produce multiple crops.
Objectives of the assignment - To improve current operating systems through review and strategic plan development - To increase the effectiveness and knowledge of available services through the development of a marketing strategy - Observe the current operations of the company including stakeholder visits
The CSC team
One year ago I did an application for the IBM Corporate Service Corps (CSC), which is one of IBM's leadership programs. The idea of the CSC is to give IBMers an on-site experience with an emerging country. My team consists of ten IBMers, which are are from different countries. Besides Dutch representation, two people are from Denmark, one from Germany, three are from the United States, one is from France, one is from Austria and one person from Spain. Four are female and six are male. Our tenure is from 2 years to 30 years My departure date for the four-week assignment February 19 and I will be based in Hyderabad.
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