MSc Business and Community dissertation planning

Semester 2 of my MSc Business and Community is almost over and I am beginning to plan my dissertation to work on over the summer. Having worked for a number of years before doing the masters degree, I already had quite clear interests to guide my research topic. I am in the process of developing a research question to look at how partnerships are formed and sustained within emerging organic fair trade value chains in sub-Saharan Africa. Most certified cotton is exported after ginning to be processed elsewhere, yet a handful of initiatives on the continent are managing to spin, dye, weave/knit, and stitch it into clothing locally. Having witnessed attempts to establish industrial processing of organic fair trade certified cotton in Senegal fail (leaving only a small-scale artisanal processing chain) - since the one remaining textiles factory had better business proposals from others (non-certified), I am interested in finding out how the few established processing chains are managing to make it work. I have been lucky to be able to draw on my professional contacts to get up-to-date information on this emerging industry, and have found discussion on Linkedin groups fruitful for making new contacts, yet am always interested in getting new information on the topic so please email if you are interested.

Over the first 2 semesters of this course, I have been able to tailor my essays and assignments to my interests, and have written on the following topics:

• how corporate structure has facilitated corporate domination in all arenas of life
• the globalisation of labour movements in response to the effects of globalisation on work
• whether participatory approaches to international development achieve better results
• an analysis of participatory action research as used in a selected PhD thesis on village-level biofuels and livelihoods in India
• an economic analysis of the market for organic fair trade cotton from West Africa
• a fictional NGO project proposal to establish organic fair trade cotton processing partnerships in Senegal, plus discussion of the NGO management issues raised
• an analysis of the varied impacts of the introduction of Bt (GM) cotton in Burkina Faso
• a comparison of the advantages and disadvantages of voluntary partnerships and corporate codes of conduct on environmental issues with those of state regulation

There are around 50 students in my department, spread over 4 masters degrees, with a number of units that overlap with each other. We have therefore made the most of our varied backgrounds, nationalities and stages in our careers to share information and experience - including a 'cultural sharing night' last month where I gave a brief presentation using Prezi of my experiences in Senegal and India. Others talked about their experiences working in developing countries, and about their cultures. I finished by showing a video of Senegalese Mbalax dancing featuring entertainer Sanekh which went down well!:

Public/private partnerships in international development: Student Initiative Forum at King's College London with closing keynote address by Jeffrey Sachs

On 3^rd December 2011 a group of fifteen to twenty postgraduate students from my department (Social and Policy Sciences at Bath) attended a forum at King’s College London on “Dependent Development; Towards a Cross-Sector Approach” organised by the charitable company The Student Initiative. I was particularly interested in attending the day of lectures and seminars due to the focus on business involvement in development, which related well to the masters I am studying for in Business and Community, and my experience in fair trade in India and Senegal.

The morning began with a keynote address on cross-sector partnerships in development by Sir Richard Jolly (former Assistant Secretary-General of the UN who has undertaken various positions in UNICEF and UNDP) and his wife Dr. Alison Jolly (primatologist). The group of around 200 participants then divided into different rooms for more focused discussions. I attended a seminar on impact investment with Shane Heywood, a former Acumen Fund fellow, who explained what Acumen Fund do and how their investments help social enterprises in developing countries flourish and grow.

During lunch, representatives from a small number of NGOs were available for networking. I was interested in particular to talk to Peter Ryan, CEO of Microloan Foundation, which provides loans to groups of women and offers training for them to implement their business ideas. I noticed in their 2009-10 impact report that knitting and sewing had been one of the most successful activities in Malawi; something to look into.

Following a slightly contentious keynote address by Michael John Hastings, Lord Hastings of Scarisbrick, KPMG’s Global Head of Citizenship and Diversity (the debate that followed highlighted the contrast between a corporate approach to development and the sort of paradigm found in international development departments in universities), we again divided into smaller seminar groups. I attended a talk by Professor Harry Barkema from LSE on ‘How to start social business ventures’ which was limited in time yet informative. Harry then formed part of a panel on the way forward for social enterprise in development in a plenary session, which brought out some interesting debate on whether businesses with strong ethical values can ever survive in the long term.

At the end of the day, Professor Jeffresy Sachs* gave a closing keynote address on the way forward for development in general, and on the role for business, via video conference from what looked like his home. A few participants were able to ask questions. He referred to the current North Atlantic financial crisis as a moral crisis, rather than an economic one, stating that there is enough to go round, it is just not being managed well. On the future for development beyond the 2015 MDGs, he said the current MDGs on meeting basic needs must remain crucial goals; sustainability must be a key focus; and that inclusive politics and inclusive economics are needed, in particular since rich countries are losing their middle classes. On aid, he called for an end to aid dependence through graduation of aid, and a reform to the aid process in view of issues of corruption and unsustainable aid (e.g. food aid rather than help for farmers).

Due to the masters I am undertaking this year, I was particularly interested to note down his comments about the role of corporations in global development. He said corporations are the best diplomats, hold the best technology, are internationally organised better than other sectors, and are more effective. They are good at large-scale development initiatives such as the eradication of disease. But, he was strongly opposed to the way corporations are ‘wrecking the world when they try to control politics’ through lobbying, funding political campaigns, and through political propaganda. He concluded ‘in America, we have a corporatocracy, not a democracy’ and that we should continue with public/private partnerships, but ‘get companies out of politics’.

*Jeffrey D. Sachs is the Director of The Earth Institute, Quetelet Professor of Sustainable Development, and Professor of Health Policy and Management at Columbia University. He is also Special Advisor to United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. From 2002 to 2006, he was Director of the UN Millennium Project and Special Advisor to United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan on the Millennium Development Goals (source: http://www.earth.columbia.edu/articles/view/1804)

Beginning the MSc Business and Community, University of Bath

In late September I moved to Bath to begin the MSc Business and Community programme at the University of Bath. The programme allows me to study various different disciplines and relate them to my specific professional interests. This semester I am taking units on: the history of corporations and how they interact with societies; the politics of policy - how social movements shape policy; qualitative research methods in the social sciences; economics for international development (in my case analysing the global market for West African fair trade organic cotton); and sociology and social anthropology of development. 

In semester two I will be studying two units related to corporate social responsibility and ethical management practice; a unit on how to define and plan for sustainable livelihoods in international development; and an NGO management course - before undertaking a dissertation on a topic of my choice for the final three months of the programme.

I'm enjoying studying alongside people from diverse backgrounds, of different nationalities, and at different stages in their careers. Winter in Bath is on it's way now, but our postgraduate freshers' week at the beginning of term was hot and sunny, which made for a pleasant train trip to Bradford on Avon during our first weekend.

VSO RV Weekend and return to the UK

Having worked in India for a year through VSO until July 2011, last week I attended a VSO RV Weekend at VSO's training centre Harborne Hall, Birmingham. The aims of the weekend are to allow those who have worked overseas through VSO for long periods of time to give feedback to the organisation, and to get advice on resettling back into the UK and planning for the future. Having lived in a lot of different places over the years I am used to moving and adapting, and have clear plans for the near future (I'm moving to Bath this month to do an MSc Business and Community) - therefore I did not feel I needed resettlement advice as much as some people did (living and working in a developing country often seems to cause people to rethink their life plans in the West). I did however appreciate the opportunity to give feedback (for the most part positive) to VSO UK, including directly to VSO Director Brian Rockliffe - about how the VSO India office and VSO UK support team operated during my year with them. Another reason I was keen to attend the RV weekend was to meet others who had been doing different jobs all over the world, and to hear about their experiences. We had fun doing a pub quiz (including a round on VSO), a debate on whether foreigners can really achieve anything through overseas development work, and generally sharing our stories and plans for the future.

For anyone thinking of attending a RV Weekend after their time overseas with VSO, I would recommend it, if only to reconnect with people in similar circumstances or with similar outlooks.

While still in Delhi, having been interested in doing a postgraduate course for several years now, I applied for the MSc Business and Community course at the University of Bath - since from my (extensive) research I decided this was the best course for me, and the one with the best reputation for social enterprise research and industry links. Many people tend to undertake International Development courses after working in developing countries, but for me I wanted to do something more focussed to my specific interests (i.e. fair trade/ethical business practice). I'm hoping the year of study will enable me to develop concrete business, management and entrepreneurship skills, in a context of social enterprise and community focus.

On another note, my article as mentioned in a previous blog post on my trip to Avani natural handicrafts project in the Himlalayan hills is now online on the Ethical Fashion Forum The SOURCE website.

Visit to Avani in Kumaon, Uttarakhand, India

I am due to leave India this week after working here in Delhi for a year, so last week I took my last few days' leave to escape to the hills of Kumaon, Uttarakhand, in the Himalayan region of north India. I visited the NGO Avani (www.avani-kumaon.org) - keen to see their spinning, weaving and natural dye projects, and also to spend a few days in the beautiful countryside. I will be shortly writing an article on Avani's textiles initiatives for Ethical Fashion Forum The Source magazine - which will be available to subscribers in the coming months. Avani turned out to be the perfect choice for my getaway as I was thoroughly impressed by the organisation's ethos and well-organised projects.

Getting to Avani however, which is based in a village called Tripuradevi, near Berinag, proved to be quite an adventure. I had booked the overnight train from Delhi to Haldwani, and then needed to travel 200 km by road (usually about 8 hours considering the windy, hilly roads). I decided to go by shared 10-seater jeep rather than the bus, and set off in the front seat at 7am. Unfortunately it started to rain, and the rain continued all day - which meant there were a few landslides (apparently one knocked a truck off the road, but we only saw small ones in action with rocks the size of footballs tumbling down). We had to take a different route which meant we eventually arrived in Almora (about half way) after 8 hours. It was getting foggy and would soon be dark so the best bet was to stay in a hotel in Almora for the night - a beautiful hillside town in itself so I was happy to rest there and take some photos. The next day, the journey should have taken about 4 hours up to Berinag - but we were unlucky again as the direct road was closed due to landslides and we ended up taking another 8 hours. We went to Bageshwar in order to change jeeps there and eventually ended up taking a total of 5 vehicles - as the drivers kept stopping to combine their passengers rather than continuing half empty as people got out along thew way. Our final shared jeep stopped in a village 12 km from our destination and the driver told us he wasn't going to Berinag after all and that perhaps we should walk! There was luckily a cafe in this village and I was able to phone Avani who kindly sent out their driver to pick us up.

Avani's guest rooms have bathrooms inside and are furnished with their own handmade woollen curtains and rugs. The balconies in front of the rooms have wonderful views of the hills. Avani's founders live on-site, along with employees recruited from the local area, and a number of foreign and Indian interns. Everyone eats vegetarian food, served in a communal kitchen. There is a natural dyeing centre, a tailoring room, and workshops where villagers are taught to make solar lamps. All the buildings are run on solar panels and the rainwater is harvested and fed into the taps. The drinking water is filtered rainwater. 

The day after arriving, along with a couple of other visitors we were taken to a nearby village (10 minutes by car, and then 45 minutes hiking downhill - which meant quite a tiring hike back up the steep hill afterwards!) to see the hand spinning and weaving centre. I'll be writing about this in more detail for the Ethical Fashion Forum Source article, and about how to collaborate with Avani's natural textiles initiatives, so will just include a few pictures here.