Brian Caouette and Jacob Donnelly

2010

Brian Caouette and Jacob Donnelly

Farm Builders

http://www.farmbuilders.org

Food, Nutrition, Agriculture

The Bold Idea:

Bold Idea: Reduce poverty and transform Liberia’s rural communities by providing smallholder tree crop farmers with management services and access to long-term investment capital.
 
In 2003, peace returned to Liberia, yet sustained growth has remained elusive. Despite natural rubber being a labor-intensive industry and Liberia’s leading export, output is far below potential.  Two decades of civil war and under-investment mean that today three quarters of Liberia’s planted stock is now too old to be productive and needs to be replanted.  Rubber farming can be profitable and sustainable for smallholders, yet the initial investment of more than eight times current per capita income is an insurmountable threshold for farmers who lack access to capital, especially long-term financing.

Farm Builders is a social enterprise designed to jump-start investment on smallholder farms.  Farm Builders forms joint ventures with individual farmers and works together, with the farmers as equity partners, to rehabilitate their farms.  Farm Builders then securitizes the future cash flows from all holdings and provides off-take and investment guarantees to lower aggregate repayment risks.  Development fees and the proceeds from a portion of future latex sales go to fund technical assistance, marketing, and expansion to new areas.

Biography:

Brian Caouette

Moment of Obligation: What experiences led to the desire to start your own organization?
I spent the field study for my master’s degree in International Development Policy in Liberia last summer. My project was to help the country move past its civil war legacy by jumpstarting development in the country’s leading industry: natural rubber.  I worked closely with government ministries, rubber processors, development banks, non-governmental organizations, and an exciting renewable energy company using non-producing rubber trees to generate electricity.  Each organization wanted most to help small growers who are still not integrated into the rubber economy.  Yet, collectively, they lacked a viable model for doing so.
At the end of the summer, I met with one of the generals of the UN Military forces in Liberia and asked him what rich countries such as the US could do to make his job easier of ensuring the peace and stability of the country.  I was expecting him to say he needed more financial and political support for peace keeping, but the general’s answer surprised me.  He said most essential was to bring businesses that can provide employment and teach young Liberians new ways of working together.  After reflecting on this and other impactful experiences during the summer, that is precisely what I resolved to do.  

Gall to Think Big: What has given you the ability to dream big and take on deeply entrenched social and difficult problems? (Such as experiences, skills, events, etc.)
My development policy classes were helpful in diagnosing the problem.  My prior work experience was also helpful.  Before graduate school, I held two jobs: one was as a Peace Corps volunteer, the other was as a management consultant.  From these distinct experiences, I now feel about equally at home in a community meeting with farmers in rural Africa as I do in a company board room.      The consulting I did was in the infrastructure and transportation industries.  Although this seems far from agriculture, exposure to project structures common in these sectors may have helped me to grasp the financial challenge facing Liberian small rubber growers.  The cash flows from a rubber plantation actually match very closely those of the toll roads I had worked to develop in several countries!    Yet by far the most influential factor in being able to envision possibilities were the many interactions I had over the summer with entrepreneurial small farmers throughout Liberia using whatever means available to them to invest so that the next generation can have a brighter future. With a little help, these farmers can move from the fringes to the center of Liberia’s development strategy.

New and Untested: What's innovative about your new idea for social change?
We aim to crack the code for increasing investment and improving productivity on small farms on a scalable basis.  In our research, , we did not find other attempts at financing long term investment for small growers via the aggregation and securing of future cash flows.  We think our model will apply well for a variety of tree crops and forestry products throughout the developing world.    The management structure is also innovative.  Smallholder assistance programs typically foster cooperatives and farmers associations.  Yet aggregating farmers alone does not lead to higher productivity gains – weak governance and poor credit hinders the effectiveness of many such organizations.  Our model creates a stronger business partnership in which the farmer has equity plus a direct link to markets, training, and advanced technologies.

Seeing Possibilities: What are the most important qualities to be a successful social entrepreneur?
Social entrepreneurs I admire combine a strong dissatisfaction with the status quo along with a willingness to do something about it.  They also command a disciplined balance between thought and action and, probably above all, are incredibly persistent.

Which musical artists/albums get you going and keep you inspired?
I once drove for a month around southern Mexico with two Manu Chao albums, Clandestino and Próxima Estación: Esperanza, playing on repeat.  More recently, I have become addicted to tracks by Fela Kuti, The Beta Band, Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros, and The Twelves.

What books do you recommend (pleasure, work and anything in between)?
FICTION-- It sounds cliché, but my favorite novel is actually Moby Dick (Herman Melville), the American classic.  I also love The Unbearable Lightness of Being (Milan Kundera).      NONFICTION-- The Path Between the Seas (David McCullough), a page-turner on the creation of the Panama Canal, contains important lessons for those seeking to surmount the insurmountable.    DEVELOPMENT-- Development as Freedom (Amartya Sen) clarifies objectives.  The White Man's Burden (William Easterly) and The Bottom Billion (Paul Collier) are also must-reads.    INSPIRATIONAL—All development related: This Child Will Be Great (Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, President of Liberia), A Thousand Hills (Stephen Kinzer on Paul Kagame, President of Rwanda), Three Cups of Tea (Greg Mortenson, American mountaineer, writer and humanitarian), and Confessions of an Economic Hit Man (John Perkins, American servant of empire, turned advocate for the oppressed).

Which websites do you visit often (work and/or personal)?
Standard stuff, I suppose.  For searches, email, calendar, and online applications I use Google; for news, The New York Times and Economist; for travel, Kayak; for distraction, its Pandora or Facebook.

What advice or quote do you keep close to your heart as a social change leader?
Think strategically; act opportunistically.  Having goals is important, but being flexible is a must.  I often think starting a new venture is like playing the classic videogame Tetris.  You don’t control which pieces appear from the sky, all you can do is maneuver and position them in line with your larger objectives.   But Yogi Berra may have said it best: “when you arrive at a fork in the road, take it!”

Jacob Donnelly

Moment of Obligation: What experiences led to the desire to start your own organization?
I’ve always wanted to be an entrepreneur; I think it is just something in my blood that loves the challenge of identifying opportunities, building and creating something new to meet these opportunities, and executing.  My previous experiences in founding both a non-profit organization and a for-profit company were some of the hardest, both professionally and personally.  They were also some of the most rewarding, therefore, after living and working in Liberia, I knew that it was time once again to try and create change.

Gall to Think Big: What has given you the ability to dream big and take on deeply entrenched social and difficult problems? (Such as experiences, skills, events, etc.)
I had the fortunate opportunity to work in President Sirleaf’s office last year and the experience was truly life changing.  In President Sirleaf I found a leader who despite the numerous adversities and challenges associated with bringing growth to a country that had suffered nearly two decades of conflict was bringing hope and change to the country.  Traveling around the country I also met countless others who continue to show resilience in their own communities.  Inspired by the stories of Liberia and its people, and knowing that agriculture is key to the country’s future growth, we developed Farm Builders.

New and Untested: What's innovative about your new idea for social change?
The world is searching for inclusive ways to finance smallholder tree crop farmers, especially in post-conflict settings.  However no solution yet exists.  By thinking differently about the farmer’s assets (land, entrepreneurial skills) we have created a relationship where farmers and the community become shareholders and benefit from the success of Farm Builders.  Our innovation finds markets for old existing trees on a farmer’s land and then works with the farmers to systematically replant their farms.

Seeing Possibilities: What are the most important qualities to be a successful social entrepreneur?
Successful social entrepreneurs are able to catalyze communities and create sustainable models for positive social change.  Social entrepreneurs also hold themselves to higher standards and responsibilities regarding their contributions to society.  As we embark on this journey, I hope we can do the same.

Which musical artists/albums get you going and keep you inspired?
I still listen to a lot of music from artists like U2 and John Legend.  “Where the Streets Have No Name” is one of my all-time favorite songs, ever.  Damien Rice is also a personal favorite.

What books do you recommend (pleasure, work and anything in between)?
“Kite Runner” by Khaled Hosseini.  Also, just finished reading “It’s Only a Mountain” by Sam Nall and “Devoted” by Dick Hoyt that are both about the story of Rick and Dick Hoyt, incredible marathon and triathlon athletes.  I highly recommend them as inspiring accounts for the power of the human soul.

Which websites do you visit often (work and/or personal)?
Boston.com (no matter where in the world I am, I can’t miss out on my hometown news, plus love my Red Sox, Patriots, Celtics, and Bruins)  • HuffingtonPost.com (Arianna has created something quite amazing and I’ve just started my own column)

What advice or quote do you keep close to your heart as a social change leader?
Human rights activist Jack Healey once told me if that if I really want to know what’s going on, I needed to get close to those affected by the changes most.  “Find the minorities and others whose voice has been absent and listen to their stories.”