EUGENIO VIASSA MONTEIRO
This is the title of the book by Prof C K Pra halad—a work highly illustrative of the abundant phenomena that make sig nificant the “Bottom of the Pyramid,” ensuring that this segment is not overlooked, neither in the products made available to the public, nor in the strategic direction of innovation and new product design. The poorest sector—closest to the base of the social Pyra mid—had long been forgotten; new products were invariably thought to reach the more af fluent, featuring price tags that placed them well beyond the reach of the poor. Empirical observation further revealed that many products, mainly for person al hygiene, are in fact desired and used by people of limited means, who purchase them in very small quantities at costs they can afford. Conceptualising this idea served to shine a bright light on the understanding of many cor porate executives, prompting them to consider an undeniable fact: there are buyers—people in need of the very products consumed by the wealthy—and these products are just as vi tal to those of modest means, for they address their specific needs, too. Many Indian com panies—such as Nirma, a man ufacturer of detergents, soaps and cosmetics sold in very small packets—experienced rapid growth, offering products in small sizes and at low pric es—tailored to those unable to make large purchases at once —Nirma became and remains a resounding success.
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It is worth noting that in In dia, the expansion of both mo bile and fixed-line telephony followed this model implicitly. As technology costs decreased, service costs were reduced, and each price adjustment brought millions of new users—people who genuinely needed these services—into the fold. Today, there are over 1.2 billion active mobile network lines and near ly 40 million active fixed-line connections. The telephone be came a working tool and a com munication facilitator designed to boost business. It is also a means of accessing the internet, which, in turn, provides useful information for those seeking it.
Given the vast population, this phenomenon repeats itself so that every reduction in pro duction costs—translated into lower retail prices—opens the door to new waves of consum ers in need. This is what happens to phar ma products that India makes efficiently and at very compet itive prices; consequently, they are sold in wealthy nations as well as in poorer countries, thanks to their affordability and quality. Production volume expands in tandem with domes tic sales and exports, creating a dynamic of successive price re ductions accompanied by rising sales volume. Innovations at the base of the Pyramid: This concept is stead ily and successfully taking root in the agricultural sector, where numerous small innovations are emerging across the coun try, thereby boosting produc tion. These innovations are no longer the exclusive domain of research centres; rather, they are pioneered by inquisitive farmers—individuals with an experimental mindset—who work methodically to assess the viability of new plant species and the feasibility of cultivating them in locations with temper atures far from conventional norms. Perhaps the same attitude that drove India’s Green Revolu tion—which involved selecting and multiplying high-yield ce real varieties, better equipped to withstand adverse weather conditions, as well as extremes of water or temperature—con tinues to reside in the minds of India’s farmers as they tirelessly seek out the plant varieties best suited to their specific needs.
I have observed, for instance, that apple cultivation is no longer confined solely to tem perate or cold regions. Some varieties thrive and yield good productivity in warmer areas, such as Rajasthan and other hot states. The farmer who de veloped this variety—demon strating great open-minded ness—provided saplings to over 100,000 interested grow ers. Furthermore, a government agency took charge of produc ing these saplings using “tissue culture,” a technique that allows for the extremely rapid multi plication of new plants. In just a few years, we will see that the apples produced here are not only delicious but also harvested in quantities suf ficient to supply our entire pop ulation and allow for exports. Some farmers have devel oped new varieties of rice, and others have successfully grafted branches from many different mango varieties onto a sin gle mango tree—each branch yielding fruit with the distinct flavour typical of its specific variety—all growing from the very same trunk. The cultivation of trees typ ical of temperate zones—such as the olive trees—is already being undertaken on a sig nificant scale in the state of Rajasthan. In desert regions, the planting of date palms has proven highly successful and productive, transforming vast, arid, and desolate tracts of land into oases of lush, fruit-bearing trees—areas that now also ben efit from abundant rainfall.
The State Agencies promoted these cultivations to reach wide areas of plantation by encouraging in dividual owners to adopt them in small plots. Many engineers—graduates of the renowned IITs (Indian Institutes of Technology)— and others who were working abroad with high salaries, have left their well-paid corporate jobs to dedicate themselves to farming on their family’s land. Typically, this farming is con ducted with an open, collabo rative spirit, aimed at teaching local farmers how they, too, can achieve much higher yields from their land by introducing small innovations. Better earnings can also come through multiple annual planting cycles involving dif ferent crops, each selected and adapted to thrive in the rainy or the dry season. Rural people — even those who may not own land — have found it relatively easy to cul tivate mushrooms, which sell well throughout India for mak ing salads or as side dishes.
In one notable instance, a Bihari woman began cultivating mush rooms. She encouraged thou sands of her peers—both in her village and in neighbouring ones—to adopt this practice, emphasising the importance of strict safety protocols to ensure only safe, edible varieties were harvested. In many cases, efforts to en courage rural communities to improve land productivity ran up against ensuring water availability for irrigation and livestock. At several places, this shortage was addressed through construction projects to widen and deepen local rivers, thereby enabling the storage of more monsoon water. Addi tionally, rainwater is reinjected into the riverbed via boreholes until it reaches the groundwater level. Furthermore, rainwater can be captured in small dams to retain a significant portion, as well as in underground res ervoirs pumped out as needed during drier periods.
The Global Vikas Trust has played a pivotal role in encour aging a shift away from tradi tional crops toward the cultiva tion of various fruit trees. This transition has demonstrated the potential for higher yields in every instance where it was im plemented. Typically, the newly planted trees are well-known varieties that produce highly sought-after, easily marketable fruits—such as bananas, pa payas, mangoes, citrus fruits, guavas, lemons, oranges, sweet limes, apples, pears, and others. An ever-increasing number of new ideas continue to emerge; for nature offers a wealth of possibilities, and human inge nuity must remain agile enough to work in harmony with the natural world. The possibilities are immense, limited only by our mental capacity and crea tivity. (The Author is Professor at AESE-Business School (Lis bon), at I.I.M. Rohtak (India), author of The Rise of India)
