The World I Imagine
How can I save the world? I can’t. What can I do to make it better? A lot. What do I do best? That is a good question. This is why I am in university: to find myself and what I want to be. Every day that goes by, I feel more and more drawn to two different things: entrepreneurship and high finance.
Now, where am I going with this? I was wondering how I could turn those things that I like into a real-world application and make the world a better place.
Microfinance is a possible way of looking at this, but what about entrepreneurship in a “needing” country? I will explore both paths in this short essay.
I will choose the same country for both of these ideas: Malawi and its capital, Lilongwe. Malawi is a small, enclaved country that is struggling and needs help, in my opinion. It sits on a lot of natural resources, especially ores of different kinds, and has a huge lake on its territory.
At a glance, I don’t know how I would implement microfinance, but I will try to outline an idea. I would start my process in Lilongwe and its streets. Take a look at the shops and ambulant vendors, talk to locals, and understand their needs and wants. Lilongwe is not a big city, it only has 1 million people living there so having an impact would be easier and harder at the same time.
Based on what I saw online, Lilongwe does not seem like a very developed city. A lot of people live in small houses, and there is a lot of empty land sitting around. How can they capitalize on that? Build shops and houses to make living safer against climatic events–to which Malawi is prone.
Finding realtors would be a bad idea because they would make renters pay a huge premium they could not afford. Therefore, my idea is to lend money to small ambulant vendors to open a physical store and build their apartments right above or behind.
This is a very utopic idea, but in my mind, it makes sense and could be done with the right amount of due diligence and research on Malawi’s situation. However, if this became an actual idea, it would have a huge impact. It would protect many people from climate change and food insecurity and give a starting point for economic development.
With my other idea, I would still start in Lilongwe, but I would open a farm. They need food; they cannot rely on international aid, and they need to act and sustain themselves.
Malawi is an arid country, but it does not mean nothing can grow on its soil. Based on a short research, we could grow cassava, sweet potatoes, and rice–even though in only some specific parts of the country. These three crops paired with sources of meat could create food security and help Malawians.
So, opening a social farm to sell at a non-profit price my crops would greatly enhance Malawi’s food independence and allow it to grow exponentially from there on. As for the location, I would likely go outside of Lilongwe, but not too far, close to the lake to try and get some water supply.
Opening a microfinance institution or a farm are both viable options, and none is especially better than the other one; they are both meant to exist at some point in the future of Malawi.
There we go, this is my gross plan for Malawi’s economic rebirth.
Hi Ale, I really enjoyed reading your thought process through this post. I too think a social farm as you are writing about is an interesting idea. A place for people to live off the land and meet their basic needs in the process is a powerful concept. Maybe even a commune type place. I am curious to know if you have a personal connection to Malawi? As Novogratz found in her exploration of different cities, often what we think is needed, is sometimes not the case.
ReplyDeleteHey, Alessandro, I think your ideas are great and would be of huge benefit. My only suggestion is to make sure you truly listen to the locals and learn about their history and beliefs. This can shape how they decide to see things and the changes you try to implement, like we saw in the Blue Sweater book.
ReplyDeleteHey Alessandro, we learned through Novogratz in Blue Sweater that microfinancing ultimately paid off in Rwanda, so why couldn't it work in other countries around Africa. Who knows, maybe you can pair up with Duterimbere to scale their operations out to Lilongwe. The only thing you should keep in mind is that the cultures often vary in these countries, and it won't be enough to use precedent in other countries to predict the market, and you should do some testing/sampling in the region.
ReplyDeleteAlessandro, this is so cool! I love how you’re honest about figuring it out as you go but still thinking big. The fact that you’ve already picked Malawi and looked into what could actually work there is such a solid start. If I were you, I’d pick the idea that feels more exciting (like, which one would you wake up pumped to work on?). Then maybe map out one tiny step—like talking to someone from Malawi or learning more about farming there.
ReplyDelete