Most of the poor are farmers – real solutions engage them. We don’t tell people what to do – we ask them what they want. Over half the world’s poor are farmers; in nations like Tanzania it’s 75%. Urban slums fill with farmers seeking a better life but not finding it. So we go into villages and engage. Historically, cooperatives are how farmers lift themselves up. African farmers understand the power of joining together. So Cheetah empowers communities with grass-roots organizing, needed investments, and access to markets.

1. Farmer Cooperatives
First know people.
Then you can work together.
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2. Problems/Opportunities Food, Farmers,
Coops are
and Hunger
Solution
Problem
2

3. 50% of food production wasted, severe
malnutrition, substantial imports (big
market, trade imbalance)
Farmers are majority of poor but are
small and fractured; forming coops
opens opportunities to BUILD MARKETS
Increasing production (5x typical) is
resource to make investments
Summary
(processing, storage, marketing)
Turning crops into cash creates village
economy; once there is an economy,
development can occur sustainably

4. Coops are the Answer:
• Cooperatives have been a model for
lifting farmers for over 200 years
(1810 in USA) and almost all
cultures
• They provide sharing of production
expenses and joint marketing,
financing and purchasing
They fail in Africa for two
primary reasons:
• Corruption and lack of trust
• The need to BUILD MARKETS (of
size!)
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5. Muundo wa Ushirika New Org
Organizational Structure
Wakulima Wakulima
Structure
Farmers
Wakulima Accountability and
Timu Timu management through
Team
Timu small groups (Teams) of
5-15 farmers that self-
C organize
r
o Ushirika,
Cheetah can’t join coop
p Association but coop can join
Cheetah in Joint
s Venture
Cheetah
Development
JV is unifying point for
all coop marketing. It
Ubia, Joint controls crops so is
Venture how investments are
secured.

6. Summary: Coop Components
Ag Services - Member Support
Financial - JV
Coop Services
• Extension • Direct • Group Health
services for marketing of Insurance
seeds, fertilizer, goods • Upgrade Health
training • Warehousing Care
• Microfinance and other
• Simple post investments
harvest • Coop financial
processing mgmt by
Cheetah

7. Preparing to Scale
Working in 3 village areas representing around 20 villages
Starting with dry, wet and export crops (corn, potatoes, and tea) to learn
about different challenges
Doing hard work of building markets
Key farmer message: trust each other or trust middle-men
Largest buyers also want to eliminate middle-men
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8. Economic
Development
Value
Crops Cash
Chain
Human
Development

9. Business
Model
• Make investments that
can achieve 3 year
repayment
• Let farmers self-
organize
• Investor joins
cooperative and
manages finance and
marketing
• Turn CROPS into
CASH!

10. Development Process Select a Target Village
Choose target villages based Let villages compete with Choose one that shows
on high production business plan discussions highest likelihood of success
Organize
Recruit members Write bylaws Define commitments, etc.
Do Test Marketing
See if village responds with
Find temp warehouse Find market
total crop commitment
Begin to make investments
Improve agronomy (provide
Build warehouse Manage cooperative
microfinance link)

11. Summary
Most of the poorest So most food rots Because businesses have
people on earth are because lack of food no investment capital in
farmers because they preservation, processing $20k to $500k range to
are small & lack access & distribution get started – and needed
to markets businesses leadership mentoring

12. Impact!
1.5% more
African
economic
growth
in the ‘80s
would
have saved
500,000
children by1990
10% increase in
income Economic growth
= 6% decrease in saves more lives
infant mortality than income
= lower birthrates redistribution
= higher education rates - and it is created
= less child oppression with small
= less domestic violence & more stable families businesses
= more rights for women 12