06 Dec 2022  |   06:43am IST

Household initiatives for wealth & jobs

Household initiatives for wealth & jobs

Eugenio Viassa Monteiro

Creating wealth within family households can be a daunting task for most middle-income families. It is time-consuming and can be frustrating, but with a little planning, this effort can lead to improved income. The age-old principle is: produce what you can and sell the excess for a profit, to make some money and use it to improve the product or increase the volume. These principles are very easy to understand and need a consistent application to obtain increasing profits.

In general, everyone in a village has experience in agri-business. The real challenge is to take the next step. Set aside some money to invest and use it to request a loan from a credit institution specialised in agri-business, and expand the operation. The advantages to this are numerous. It gives a good example to the younger generation, makes them plan better, and gives them the incentive to improve upon this foundation and expand it, to create jobs for today and the future. 

It is best to start with a practical activity you are involved in. Target this activity for small innovations that can give rise to a flow of new products or better ways of doing them. As long as one thinks about what best practices are and how to apply them, you can be on your way to success. 

Activities we became familiar with in the environment we grew in, within proper conditions, can be put into practice quickly. I remember the example of Anand Milk Cooperative, which owns the brand AMUL. When the cooperative started, there were few co-operators, but in a very short time, the number grew: many bought cows and buffaloes. Today that Federation of Cooperatives has 3.6 million members, selling for about $7 bn a year.

If someone produces milk that doesn't sell, this excess can be a loss. But when there is a village cooperative that buys it all and, in addition, pays well, on the spot, this loss can be trimmed. This is especially true in the rainy season when the output from each cow rises to 2.5 times. This business model encourages each producer to increase their output and therefore more producers are added.

I am thinking about the middle and lower-middle classes of our society. There is not much science needed to graze a cow and milk it twice a day and take the milk to the cooperative. This was precisely how the dairy Cooperatives started and multiplied to make India the No. 1 milk producer from 1998 on!

There are two major groups of businesses to explore in the household economy: one based on vegetables; and another on animals and derived products. There is a huge variety of edible vegetables whose production, in good quantity and with adequate care - so that use of chemicals like fertilizers and pesticides are well within acceptable limits, can provide good yields. I'll start with the rarest products, which, because of their rarity will be easy to market at reasonable prices.

1. Mushrooms. All over the world its production and consumption have been growing. In India, it is still low. And they are easy to produce, in damp and low-light environments, indoors.

Mushrooms are good food, low in fat and calories and full of vitamins, antioxidants and other nutrients. They are widely used for salads and to accompany various dishes, according to the local cuisine. 

As mushroom production is not common among us, I take the liberty to cite one of the works that appear on Google. See https://www.trustbasket.com/blogs /how-to-grow/how-to-grow-mushrooms-at-home-the-complete-guide, for example

Currently, China is the largest producer, satisfying 75% of the demand. India only produces 2% of the world's consumption and, as such, has a wide field of action. Take into account that the best prices can be obtained from Cooperatives or from those who need a secure source to supply supermarket and/or hotel chains.

Damp and dark environments can be prone to attract snakes and vipers. So, be very careful, protecting your hands and eventually creating a mongoose, an agile animal, very common in India, killing snakes.

2. Chickens. It is common in rural areas to have poultry in the family house. Now it is about increasing the dimensions and creating delimited areas, to prevent any disease from spreading quickly. And mastering the best ways to feed, provide water and collect the eggs.

The most important aspect of developing sustainable poultry is to know about the vaccines and their frequency. 

3. Mango fruit. Nature has endowed India with beautiful mangoes, some of them selected and named after those who identified and multiplied them, such as Alfonso, Mankurad, Fernandina, Monserrate, Hilario, etc. When the tree is taken care of, getting rid of wild plants that grow on the branches and suck the tree; and they are fertilized properly, it is possible to get a good production.

4. Bee’s honey. Widely used in food and by hotel chains to enrich their breakfast. It will be of interest to classify honey according to the main type of flowers where bees fly for honey. The choice of alternatives, adds value to the hotel's breakfast. This activity requires a good knowledge of beekeeping.

This article references only four opportunities that can be easily scaled and can be used as a baseline to get a foothold in the agri-business. Maybe you think that it is an insignificant income. It can be as high as you want and all together have the same effect as at AMUL I referred to before, selling billions of dollars each year. More important: many family members will be imbued with an entrepreneurial mindset.

(The Author is Professor at AESE-Business School (Lisbon), at I.I.M.Rohtak (India), author of The Rise of India)


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