Last Blog

  1. Who is Asgar Ali? (not sure who this guy is)
    1. Asgar Ali is a materials science engineer from Pottstown, Pennsylvania who wants to develop a sustainable material to eradicate plastics from the world because of how harmful they are to the environment.
  2. How will you change the world?
    1. I will try my best to change the world by volunteering my time and energy into something that I deeply care about like food security (this is why I am a part of the GRO Mushrooms team!:)) I want my research/work to help people always get access to healthy food regardless of whether or not they have money.
  3. What do you want your epitaph to read?
    1. I want my epitaph to read, “Asgar Ali, an engineer, a photographer, and a kind soul who did what he loved and died with a smile on his face.”

Blog 10

The Global Social Impact Fellowship contrasts with typical community service organizations in a couple of distinct ways. First, GSIF has a more global outreach compared to community service organizations. For instance, the various GSIF projects work directly with people from different places around the world and their work will directly impact the lives of people around the world. In comparison, a community service organization such as the CSO (Community Service Office) at Lehigh works locally and their work impacts the locals of the Bethlehem area. Furthermore, GSIF is more structured compared to community service organizations. This is because students are selected systematically to contribute to the project. In contrast, people often simply volunteer for service projects. What is gotten out of GSIF and community service also differs by quite a bit. In community service projects, people who volunteer leave with a sense of self-growth. On the other hand, GSIF allows people to not only grow as a student but also provides them with opportunities to sharpen their leadership, communication, and time management skills amongst other things. Further, students can get a chance to network with people from various backgrounds. and can get their research papers published in recognized scientific journals. GSIF essentially sets students up for success in the long run whereas community service organizations allow students to gain self-satisfaction in the short term. 

 

GSIF Blogpost 9

Current System:

Currently, in Sierra Leone rice farming is the traditional method of producing food. The population of the country relies primarily on rice farming as their main source of food. However, a significant issue with rice farming is that it is not a sustainable system capable of providing food to families in Sierra Leone every month of the year because it can only be grown seasonally. This leaves five out of the twelve months without crop production. These are known as as hunger months when families do not have access to food which in turn can result in malnourishment and consequently higher rates of disease.

How Our System Can Make An Imprint By Introducing a Cyclic Food Production System:

Our innovation introduces a new product into the Sierra Leone market- Mushrooms. This is a nutritious and affordable source of food that can be grown using the output from rice and wheat farming. In essence, our system takes the waste products from farmers, and uses that as a lifesource for producing mushrooms all year round since it can be grown in controlled environments. As a result, families do not have to just rely on rice to meet their nutritional needs. Instead, they can buy the mushrooms at an affordable price, use it to feed themselves and even reserve them for future consumption. In addition, our system creates jobs that locals can benefit from. Our process transforms the current cradle to grave farming methods in Sierra Leone to a sustainable cradle to cradle system that can offer families nutritious food all throughout the year.

GSIF Blog 8- Systems Thinking Analysis

Team: Asgar Ali and Ami Yoshimura 

 

  1. If you are the Chief of Police for Afghanistan, what solution would you develop to pay the cops that are actually working, reduce corruption, and boost their morale.

 

If I were to develop a solution for the Chief of Police for Afghanistan for paying good working cops and reducing corruption, I would first look at where in the system the main problem lies that leads to corruption. To do this, it is important to consider all the facts of the study:

 

  • 35M Population; 250,000 Policemen
  • 27% Literacy Rate (2019: 32%)
  • 13 Yrs, Billions Later  Poor Personnel and Payroll Data (No verification)
  • Extremely High (Hierarchical) Corruption
  • 10% “Ghost” Policemen
  • Commanders get a cut from salaries
  • Poor Morale; Defection to the Taliban
  • Law and Order Crises; Public Trust

 

The Problem:

 

From the facts above, there are a few critical issues that lead to corruption within the Afghani police force. First, low salaries coupled with the low literacy rates often forces people to act in a way that is not how they would act ideally. For example, if the police force was highly educated then they would likely think twice before doing something unethical. However, this is not the case. Also, due to their low salaries, officers are forced to accept bribes from people just to support themselves. Additionally, since there is hierarchical corruption, the police are more likely to be corrupt since they know that the people above and below them are doing the same thing. Another major flaw in the system is not recruiting authoritative officials with good values. If these types of leaders exist within the organization, then the rates of corruption would go down significantly and ghosting would likely not exist.

 

The Solutions:

 

To reduce corruption while also paying working officers and boosting their morale, a multilayered solution must be employed. To bring radical reforms within the police organization, the chief of police has to ensure that recruited officers are well educated, trained, and are trustworthy.In order to achieve this, the Chief of police must work hand in hand with multiple entities within the Afghani political systems and national educational boards. There should be two components that recruited officers must meet in order to join the police force. 

 

 

  • Education: 

 

 

    • The Chief of Police must work in tandem with the schools that train aspiring officers to make sure that each recruit is well disciplined and trained. 
    • The Chief of Police must make it clear that the more strict that educational institutes are, the better and more equipped the police officers from that institution would be since corruption is rooted within a person’s character. If educators and trainers can help build strong character within the officers, then the high level of corruption would not exist. 
    • These institutions could be given rewards for training officers who are making a lot of positive changes in their society. This would incentivize the schools to properly train every recruit.

 

    • The Chief of Police must work with policy makers to make sure that it is a law to have at least a high school education along with training from an recognized police organization for someone to become a police officer. This would ensure that all the recruited police officers are well educated.

 

    • Anti-corruption laws could be made publicly available so that the public can know when the police are being corrupt.
      • Along with this, the public could be given a hotline number to call if they see a police officer doing something that they should not be doing.
      • After the public says the name of the officer, then whatever the police officer did should go on their permanent records and there should be a sizable amount of money cut from their salary for the month.
      • It should also be made sure that the person that picks up the call is someone that is not directly involved with the police department just so the possibility of corruption and bias is reduced. This hotline number could possibly be controlled by a government institution like the Social Security Administration that has access to police identities and can fine officers for being corrupt.

 

 

  • Prevention of corruption:

 

 

    • Corruption could be reduced simply by providing fair salaries to the police officers and by maintaining good working conditions.
    • To prevent ghosting, the officers could be equipped with cameras or maybe a tracking device on their equipment which could again be monitored by an external administrator like the Afghan government that can report directly to the chief of the police department if something like ghosting is suspected. Further investigations can be made by the chief of police and the police officer could be treated accordingly. 
    • Strong leaders with commendable skills should be appointed to each department so that the entire policing system can be less corrupt.
      • These leaders could directly cut salaries of any officers that are involved in bribery or corruption. 
    • The police officers could be paid a raise based on their behavior for a period of time like every six months. If they did not do anything wrong and abided by all the laws, then they would get a good bonus. This would incentivize them to work harder and avoid corruption.

 

  • Systems Thinking Analysis:

 

  • Differentiation: All the various organizations that the chief of police would partner with in order to solve the corruption issues. This could be organizations like the Afghanistan police department and government agencies like the Department of Social Security, and the Criminal Investigation Department which can help detect police officers who are involved in criminal activities.

 

  • Interdependence: All the partners would need to work mutually to foster a system void of corruption. For instance, if a civilian calls the hotline to report a crime committed by a police officer, the person on the other end must take action accordingly without thinking twice about the situation. They could instantly report to the chief of police who could punish the officer in question accordingly. This sort of connectedness would ensure the anti-corruption solution to work since every little component would work in tandem with each other to bring order into the police force.

 

  • Holism: In order to bring change in the Afghan police departments, all of the components must work together instead of one part doing a majority of the work. For example, when all the cooperating officers, the community and organizations work together to dishonor corrupt officers, ultimately corruption within the system would slowly start to fade away since working as a whole is always greater than the sum of the individual parts.

 

  • Multifinality: Since all of the acting party’s goals are achieved through our solution, multifinality applies in this case. For instance, the community wants protection from the police, and when the police do not do their part, they can call them out knowing that higher officers in command and external government organizations would take action about them. The higher officers and government agencies would want to protect the civilians since that is their job and their income is directly affected by the actions they take. This ensures that all of the individual goals are met and the dream goal of reducing corruption is also fulfilled as a result of them working together.

 

  • Equifinality:  Although our individual components (Education and prevention) are two different ways of solving the issue, the main outcome in both cases are the same which is to ultimately reduce corruption within the Afghan police department.

 

  • Regulation: Since our solution involves the chief of police making some key partnerships, it ensures that these partners keep themselves as well as the police in check. This allows for accountability within the system and does not allow one entity to become overly divergent from their goal.

 

  • Abstraction: The concept of abstraction applies here because if our solution works in Afghanistan, then it could be easily integrated into the police departments of similar countries where the police are corrupt.

 

  • Leverage: When the police officers know that any negative action that they take can impact their salary as well as their records, they are less likely to be corrupt which will result in having officers who are trustworthy and maintain the anti-corrupt rules.

 

  1. If you are the entrepreneur, what multi-final solution will you develop so that you succeed, your venture succeeds (takes water hyacinth off the lake), and the people living along the lakeshore also walk away happy. Please be specific on how your solution might function and precisely whom you would work with. For example, refrain from including vague stakeholders like entire communities.

 

The Problem #2:

 

The problem above can be broken down into a couple different aspects/parts: The first is that the water hyacinth infestation blocks fishermans capabilities to fish in Lake Victoria — what’s worse, the moss doubles every single month. In addition, it can lead to the spread of disease. Although an entrepreneur has a solution to this, by the means of crushing the water hyacinth, and turning it into briquettes and compost, after just two weeks of implementing the process to Lake Victoria (And hiring four employees to help), the community of the lake deny access to the hyacinth due to the fact that the entrepreneur is profiting off of it. So, the problem is not focused on the technological and scientific problem of removing the hyacinth, but rather the problems that the community members and fishermen have with the entrepreneurs being the sole money maker off of her processes and the Lakes hyacinth. 

 

The Solutions:

 

  1. A recent article we read on FGM in the communities surronding Lake Victoria mentioned that a majority of community members care most about financial incentives and gains, especially those in dire economic straits. Therefore, in order to help those in the community gain economic opportunities and empowerment and to fix the conflict between the entrepreneurs and the community the entrepreneur can outsource the work to fisherman and community members at Lake Victoria. Not only is this solution a bit more sustainable, but it also allows for all stakeholders to be satisfied and gain positive benefits.
  2. The second part of the solution is to offer free briquettes and compost (5% of produced) for those in the community by way of giving so that trelury everyone in the community feels as though they are obtaining value and positively benefiting from the entrepreneur. 

Systems Thinking Analysis:

 

Differentiation: The differentiation would be with all of the stakeholders involved including the entrepreneur, the fishermen, the community of and surrounding Lake Victoria, and the workers who are helping the entrepreneur. 

 

Interdependence: In order to facilitate this solution, the entrepreneur would need to provide the opportunity to outsource the work of obtaining the hyacinth from the lake itself (and pay the community members and the fishermen in the process). With this, the entrepreneur can continue to profit off of the hyacinth, the community members and the fishermen have opportunities for more economic gain, and the fishermen also have the opportunity to catch more fish and less risk for disease. 

 

Holism:  When taking a step back, this solution will allow for not only the entrepreneur, workers, fishermen, and community members to make money, and gain more financial security, but also allow for increased health and wellness as well as more abundance of food (fish).

 

Multifinality: Since all of the acting party’s goals are achieved through our solution, like previous, multifinality applies in this case. In case of the entrepreneur, she can regain access to the lake with hyacinth, which she can ultimately profit off of. The surrounding community will also be satisfied with the positive economic gains through payment through outsourced labor, gifting of some resources, and an overall increase in health and wellness with less risk for disease spread. The fishermen would also have a positive economic gain with paid outsourced labor, and also a better suited environment for fishing. The workers on the entrepreneurs also still have the means to gain income through this venture. 

 

Equifinality: Although the stakeholders and individuals may have different reasons and even goals in mind, they all want to have personal and economic gain which could be achieved through removing the hyacinth.

 

Regulation: The outsourced work (especially with removing the hyacinth) will be paid through a fair contract, the same amount of money the entrepreneur would pay other workers through commission, instead of through time to help set a expectation and create an incentive. The entrepreneur also would be creating a contract pledging to donate 5% of the final product back to the population.

 

Abstraction: The concept of abstraction also applies due to the fact that the solution itself has diverse impacts on other ecosystems and environments, and also has the potential to apply elsewhere. 

Leverage point: The economic incentive that all stakeholders have, in addition to the overall positive impact on other aspects within the environment and communities like food and health as well.

Blog #7- Partnerships!

  1. Describe at least 5 partnerships with individuals and organizations that have been formed to support your project and that impact the success or failure of your venture
    1. WHI
      1. How they help us 
        1. Leverage their social and political capital 
        2. They split their risk with us and help us reach our goals
        3. They help us legitimize our ventures
      2. How we help them 
        1. We bring them research and our expertise 
        2. We bring them credibility and the Lehigh brand
        3. We can get specific fundings that we can share with them to help with the venture
        4. We provide them with a project geared to raise the standard of living
      3. Symbiotic?
        1. Yes, we both have a common goal. They provide us with the resources that we need and we conduct the venture that they see potential in.
      4. How to make relationship more equitable?
        1. We need to scale up to make our venture successful in order to maintain our funding.
    2. Jawara
      1. How they help us
        1. He overlooks the entire venture on our behalf in country
        2. He helps us sell our product to markets in SL
        3. He knows a lot of people in Makeni and can help us get what we need when we’re in country.
      2. How we help them
        1. We provide him with our experimental data that he can use to make mushrooms
        2. We can provide him new modes of growing/sustaining the mushrooms growing process.
        3. Because of us he is able to have a job and a consistent source of income.
      3. Symbiotic?
        1. We both rely on each other to advance our venture forward since we would not have anything to sell if Jawara is not helping us grow mushrooms in SL. At the same time, he would have a difficult time producing large quantities of mushrooms if he does not use our research data and expertise.
      4. How to make relationship more equitable?
        1. We can give him the freedom to work when he wants provided that he meets the project requirements/milestones. In this way, he would have time to spend with his family and also be as productive as he can when he’s working.
    3. SL Rice Farmers
      1. How they help us
        1. Rice farmers produce rice husk as a waste of their growing cycle
        2. We use rice husk as part of our mushroom substrate
        3. Rice farmers usually give their rice husk to us for free which helps our growing process and reduces our costs
      2. How we help them
        1. We take their waste in bulk for our own reuse
        2. We are doing them a favor since they do not have to pay us or anyone else to take the waste materials.
      3. Symbiotic?
        1. It is symbiotic but our venture benefits much more than they do
        2. They benefit by getting rid of their waste products and we benefit by using the waste to grow our mushrooms
      4. How to make relationship more equitable?
        1. Once we have a sustainable process we can definitely pay the rice farmers for their waste as it is an essential part of our project
        2. We can also form a partnership with them and possibly teach them our methods of growing mushrooms so that they can benefit from selling mushrooms on their own.
    4. Market vendors
      1. How they help us
        1. Market vendors buy our mushrooms to sell at their market stands
        2. We do not have to worry about the direct sale of mushrooms
      2. How we help them
        1. We provide the market vendors with a demanded product that they can profit off of
        2. They do not have to worry about how to grow mushrooms
      3. Symbiotic?
        1. Yes, we make money from their purchase of our mushrooms, they make money from the sale of our mushrooms
      4. How to make relationship more equitable?
        1. Once we have a sustainable process we can partner with a few specific vendors and rebrand them to make them more popular and profitable
        2. They will be able to rely on us for product to sell and we can rely on them to sell more product
    5. Lehigh University
      1. How they help us
        1. They provide our venture with funding and resources to give us a foundation to grow and succeed
      2. How we help them
        1. We help them by advertising and building their credibility
        2. We speak on their behalf at conferences and info sessions to engage with prospective students and parents
        3. Our venture and research helps Lehigh get funding from different sources which ultimately benefits the university as a whole
        4. Our success are their successes as well
      3. Symbiotic?
        1. Yes, they help us start our ventures and keep them going and we work hard to give them positive results
      4. How to make relationship more equitable?
        1. It is equitable as long as they believe in our venture and we continually work our hardest to make it successful and not a waste of resource

Resources:

    1. Phil Coles
      1. How they help us
        1. He is a mycologist and knows a great deal about mushroom farming
        2. He has offered to review our research data and experiment conclusions
        3. He has expertise in data analysis and can really help us refine our data that we collect and use for our research
      2. How we help them
        1. We will acknowledge him in future papers and presentations
      3. Symbiotic?
        1. He does more for us as we are the ones asking him for help
      4. How to make relationship more equitable?
        1. We can work more closely with him if he still has mushroom experiments that he needs people for.
        2. We could possibly share our data with him if he needs it to make his mushrooms production more sustainable.
    2. Ben Walmer
      1. How they help us
        1. He is a mycologist that attends our presentations for support and suggestions on our project
      2. How we help them
        1. We don’t really help them unless they ask us to do something specific.
      3. Symbiotic?
        1. He helps us more than we help him. However, we would be more than happy to help him if he asks us to.
      4. How to make relationship more equitable?
        1. We can provide him with our data if he needs it.
    3. John Pecchia
      1. How they help us
        1. He is a mycologist who gave us a great foundation for the mushroom growing process we use
        2. He answers any major questions we have about mushrooms
      2. How we help them
        1. We have acknowledged him in our first paper
      3. Symbiotic?
        1. He does a lot more for us as we come to him with questions
      4. How to make relationship more equitable?
        1.  We would be open to working with him on any projects he may have

Blog #6

  1. List ten specific ways in which your teaming approach has changed/ evolved since you started, teamwork skills you have developed, and lessons you have learned.
    1. Working with Belle and David allowed me to understand the importance of getting work done on time since we have a small group and if someone does not get their work done on time, then it impacts the entire team.
    2. Since we started our team approach has changed in that before, David and I would rely on Belle to do a lot of the heavy lifting since we did not have any background knowledge on growing mushrooms. However, now David and I are a bit more comfortable working by ourselves since we had first hand experience learning from Belle.
    3. Also, when we first started doing our presentations, Belle would answer a majority of the questions but now there is more even participation from all three of us.
    4. I have learned how to build/customize websites by working with the team since I had to put together our team website for the expos.
    5. I also have improved my video editing skills since I was in charge of editing our teams videos for the expos.
    6. I learned how to write a technical paper on our subject which is a very important skill set because now that I have to write engineering reports for my classes, it comes easier and is not that daunting of a task.
    7. An important lesson that I have learned, especially having transitioned online last semester is that it is critical to openly discuss any sort of issue that I am having with my team so that they can help me out.
    8. It is also critical that we can identify each team member’s strong suit and have them work in an area that they are comfortable with. I think our team does this pretty well now.
    9. I realize that seeking help from our advisor and other teams is important because when we ask questions and get another person’s/team’s perspective on something, it helps us better understand our issue and gives us different ideas on how to deal with the issue.
    10. Joining the GRO Mushrooms team not only helped me become a more structured/responsible person, it allowed me to interact with people that I never thought I would talk to.
  2. During spring 2020/ week 7, your team developed a Collaboration plan for your team clearly articulating your goals (Small g and Big G), Roles, Procedures and Relationships. Provide an updated collaboration plan 

Personal Goal:

Project Goal:

Our goal is to reach a steady state production level in Makeni that is able to provide mushrooms to markets across the city and be in enough supply to have everyone who wants to purchase them be able to do so. These mushrooms will be low cost and supplied year round to markets.

Roles:

Belle: leader/expert – relays information to new members and facilitates overall progress of the project, helps wherever is needed

David and Asgar: analyst/recorder – determine experiments needed to maximize the production process and progress the venture (David works with substrate, Asgar works with mycelium)

Jawara: implementer – turns our plans and ideas into tangible products that can be sold in the market

Khanjan: facilitator – monitors the team’s progress and provides guidance to the project team

Procedures:

Decision making: Our team is small so we consult each other about all of our decisions. As the expert, Belle usually provides the most information on our decisions but David and Asgar have learned much more over the year and can contribute much more to decisions.

Effective meetings: We meet once a week to discuss our weekly progression and plans for the coming week. Each of us take turns describing our progress and lessons learned to keep on the same page about the project.

Communication: We use GroupMe almost daily to talk to one another and communicate any successes or failures and support each other. Our response times are very fast and we are always able to help one another.

Relationships: Our team only consists of three members so it is very easy to work together and have team meetings. We are all like-minded and share a passion for our project, making our work together that much more enjoyable.

Blog 5 – FAQs

Top 20 FAQS and our answers

  1. What is your projected impact on the population of Makeni in percent?
    1. We have calculated that 100kgs of mushrooms feeds a family of 4 for half of a year. We have not yet calculated our current mushroom production capabilities at our current state as we are still trying to produce a consistent yield, but our steady state production goal is 100 Kgs/ grow cycle. This would equate to feeding 1 family for about 6 months with each mushroom production cycle (1 month).
  2. What plans do you have to introduce mushrooms when the local population is not used to eating them?
    1.  We know currently that mushrooms are foraged and sold in small quantities so the demand is there, just not the supply. Our current production is small, so we are assuming that we will not be flooding the market, but that our product will sell out. Then, by word of mouth between families, the demand for our mushrooms will increase at the same time as our production rate increases.
  3. Do we know how they consume mushrooms? What is our plan to have them consume them?
    1. We know that people in SL typically eat rice and some sort of stew. So mushrooms could very easily be incorporated as a part of the stew to supplement the rice.
    2. This also lends itself to our plan of dehydrating mushrooms to increase their shelf life. Dehydrated mushrooms can be easily prepared by putting into that same stew, just as raw mushrooms would be.
  4. What temperature and humidity profiles are needed to optimally produce mushrooms?
    1. Temperature- 75 to 90 degrees Celsius depending on the strain
    2. Humidity: 80 to 90 % humidity consistently
    3. Light: depends on the stage of the mushroom’s growth. Initially no light is needed. After two to three weeks, indirect light can be used to supplement the growth.
  5. What are your plans to make your process more environmentally friendly (i.e. eliminate grow bags)
    1. One of our plans for future research is trying to eliminate the grow bags during the mushroom growing phase. We plan to replace them with 5 gallon buckets, a long tray, or just making a substrate pile with no container. Unfortunately, part of our grain spawn process requires the grow bags as they are heat resistant and are used to pressure cook our grain which we have not found a replacement for yet.
  6. Why are you growing mushrooms?
    1. Mushrooms provide important nutrients and nutraceuticals that are consumed in a healthy diet. It is a good supplement if other protein sources are not accessible. Our mushroom growing process is also zero-energy, making it a very cheap crop to produce as well as purchase. With all of this, mushrooms can be profitable for the farmer, and a beneficial, cheap crop for customers.
  7. Why are you doing this in Sierra Leone?
    1. Mushrooms need a humid environment to grow. Part of our zero-energy methodology is that if we implement our process into a humid environment, we won’t need to pay to run humidifiers. Sierra Leone has an average 80% humidity which is enough to grow mushrooms without external aid.
  8. What were the results of your summer work?
    1. Our team worked to perfect our growing methodology as well as study the effectiveness of zero energy cooling chambers. We determined that light and heat exposure can speed up colonization and therefore our growing process, and higher concentrations of mycelium and nutrition can increase yields. Our results from the summer are still being adjusted as we are continuing the research to increase our data sample size.
  9. What is your current production situation in Sierra Leone?
    1. We have one mushroom production house with one worker, Jawara. We are working with him to have monthly yields and to get us his production numbers. Right now it is not consistent, but the mushrooms he produces do fully sell out.
  10. What is your steady state production projection?
    1. Our steady state production projection is approximately 100 Kgs/ grow cycle.
  11. Who do you choose to work with you and how do you train them?
    1. We are partnered with World Hope International who provided our group with our worker, Jawara, as he has a degree in agriculture. When we get to the point of needing another house and worker, we will work with WHI to find another suitable worker. We have multiple papers written by our team that describe the growing method, and we go to Sierra Leone every summer to work on the ground. We are also working on an instructional video of our methodology.
  12. Are there other places that this can be implemented?
    1. An idea very similar to this has been done in Cambodia by a group of students previously led by Khanjan. Our methodology is made to work in very hot, humid climates and Sierra Leone fit the description that we needed.
  13. Why did you choose this strain of mushroom?
    1. Strains of mushrooms vary in their heat and humidity tolerances, and oyster mushrooms had a tolerance range that fit the best to Sierra Leone’s climate.
  14. Have you tried growing any other mushroom strains?
    1. Yes, this summer we tried growing summer and italian mushroom strains.
  15. How nutritious are mushrooms?
    1. Mushrooms are a great source of protein and fiber. They usually consist of around 20-30% of protein by dry weight.
  16. How much do you currently sell mushrooms for In Sierra Leone?
    1. We currently sell them for $2/Kgs.
  17. How sustainable is mushroom farming in Sierra Leone?
    1. Mushroom farming in SL is quite sustainable since the only inputs needed to grow mushrooms are waste products from traditional farming such as rice or wheat straw, the mushroom strain and good growing climate which naturally exists in SL. The only possible way to improve sustainability in our mushroom growing process is to replace the heat resistant grow bags with reusable buckets or jars.
  18. How long is a mushroom growing cycle?
    1. It takes approximately 3 to 4 weeks for a grow cycle to be complete.
  19. What steps have been taken to scale the venture?
    1. The grow house in SL staggers the batches of mushrooms so that there is a consistent supply of it throughout the year
    2. The team is currently in the process of replacing the plastic grow bags with 5 gallon buckets so that there is more area for the mushrooms to grow. This will significantly increase the production yield.
  20. When do you expect the venture to reach a steady state of production of 100 Kgs per cycle?
    1. With Covid-19 disrupting our research and production in SL, we are unsure as to the exact time it would take for us to reach the steady state milestone. However, we are doing our best to scale the production with the resources we have available and the goal is to get the production numbers up within the next 6 months.

 

Done Better:

  • Be more balanced with answering questions
    • Designate people for certain categories of questions
  • We need more numbers and facts, our answers seem very qualitative currently
  • David – less uh’s and um’s 🙂
  • Asgar- less uh’s and um’s as well. More confidence required! 🙂

CINQ-387 Post #4- Ethical Decision Making + Grassroots Diplomacy

 

Teammates: Kelly Mulvaney, Bishoy Youhana, Megan Lindle

Part 1: Ethical Decision Making

Step 1: Determine the facts in the situation:

Implicit facts:

  • Due to their inability to research the matter, the women believe feeding their children gruel is highly beneficial. This is probably a cultural norm that everyone has just gone along with for decades without concrete proof it is sufficient.
  • No readily available testing – if they have HIV they might not even know
  • The women do not necessarily know how the pesticides might affect the children

Explicit facts:

  • HIV/AIDS is very prevalent in the region.
  • 35% of children in the region are stunted due to poor nutrition
  • The child’s main source of nutrition is from the gruel that is made out of maize and bananas
  • We have 500 women willing to join the co-operative.
  • The crops that will be used for making the porridge are often exposed to pesticides which can have adverse effects on the children.
  • Few women are tested for HIV/AIDS
  • There is a higher chance of transmitting HIV through breastfeeding

Assumptions: 

  • We are assuming that the cooperative will make products that are affordable for women.

Primary issue: 

  • Breastfeeding can be potentially harmful in regions where HIV cases are prevalent since it can increase the chances of transmitting the disease to the children.
  • Alternative nutritional supplements such as porridge can be offered as a possible alternative to breastfeeding and reduce the growth stunting numbers in the region. However, the ingredients that go into making these are known to be exposed to pesticides which can potentially harm the babies.

Step 2 & 3: Define the Stakeholders and Motivations (personal vs professional)

  • The children: 
    1. Personal:
      1. Want the porridge to taste good
      2. Need food that will help them grow
    2. Professional: None 
  • The mothers: 
    1. Personal:
      1. Want their children to be properly fed (no pesticides) and HIV/AIDS free 
    2. Professional:
      1. Make money
  • Myself/the cooperative: 
    1. Personal:
      1. Improve the nutritional status of the children and improve the livelihoods of rural communities
    2. Professional:
      1. Build credibility to get more funding for future projects
  • The women who joined the cooperative:
    1. Personal:
      1. Income opportunity
      2. passion for the cause
    2. Professional:
      1. To produce nutrient-packed porridge using locally grown produce.
  • Government/other groups (secondary):
    1. Personal:
      1. Want to reduce growth stunting cases to go down
      2. Improve livelihoods.
    2. Professional:
      1. Develop the country overall
  • Donors (secondary):
    1. Personal: 
      1. Improve livelihoods of the families and reduce the growth stunting
    2. Professional: None

Step 4: Formulate (at least three) alternative solutions:

  1. Exclusively breastfeed children- The mothers could simply breastfeed the children until they no longer need it because breastfeeding can provide essential nutrients that can’t be replicated at an affordable price point.
    1. Ethical principle: consequence-based thinking
    2. Pros: 
      1. No risk kids receiving pesticides 
      2. The mothers will not be worried about feeding their children products that they are unfamiliar with
    3. Cons: 
      1. Kids will have poor nutrition
      2. Risk receiving HIV/AIDS from prolonged breastfeeding
  1. Guidebook/pamphlet detailing which fruits/vegetables contain which nutrients and when is the best time to serve this to their children (0-6 months, 6-12 months, etc.)
    1. Ethical principle: consequence-based thinking and ethics of care
    2. Pros: 
      1. No dire need for prolonged breastfeeding (less risk for receiving HIV)
      2. Allows them to understand the benefits and proper nutrition that each food brings; each child will have a more well-balanced diet
    3. Cons: 
      1. Mothers may not be educated enough to utilize the guidebook
      2. Mothers may resort to archaic or traditional solutions rather than the guidebook
      3. May not be as cost-effective as the porridge.
      4. There still could be nutrients from breastmilk that these food lack
  2. Use the funds to develop a nutritious and shelf-stable porridge. Maybe use more of the funding to better process/wash off the pesticides before they can go into making the porridge.
    1. Ethical principle: consequence-based thinking 
    2. Pros:
      1. This way the mothers could be assured that their children would not get HIV from prolonged breastfeeding 
      2. Children will have the essential plus supplementary nutrition from the porridge which can help reduce growth stunting. 
      3. Still will receive nutrients from breast milk; this would be used after the baby is 6 months 
    3. Cons:
      1. Risk receiving pesticides
      2. Will not have enough funding left to market the product 
      3. The baby might still have HIV from birth

Step 5: Seek additional assistance, as appropriate – previous cases, peers, reliance on personal experience, inner reflection 

  • Pesticides are more common in fruits, vegetables, meats, poultry, and fish
  • Pesticides can bio-accumulate in the body. Most people don’t consume enough for it to be fatal, however, the neurotoxins can harm small children.
  • In children, pesticides pose a threat to the developing brain and the nervous system.
  • Most East African countries import their pesticides from Europe 
  • AIDS is one of the leading causes of death in East Africa
  • 25% of babies born to women with HIV will also be infected

Step 6: Select the best course of action – that solves the problem, saves face, and has the best short term and long-term implications for your relationship and venture. Explain reasoning and discuss your solution vis-a-vis other approaches discussed in class. 

Solution: Use the funds to develop a nutritious and shelf-stable porridge and use more of the funding to better process/wash off the pesticides before they can go into making the porridge. This way-

  • Children will receive good nutrition.
  • Children will not be dependent on prolonged breastfeeding for nutrients (decreasing the risk of HIV)
  • It would reduce the risk of receiving pesticides but would cost a bit more money.

This solution allows the children to not depend on breastfeeding as the only source of nutrients, thus making sure they don’t practice prolonged breastfeeding, reducing the risk of HIV. This also allows the children to receive a good amount of nutrients from the porridge, reducing malnutrition. However, it is more expensive to implement than the other two solutions proposed, and does risk the children receiving pesticides, but if resources are allocated correctly, fruits should be washed carefully, so the pesticide level in the porridge will be minimal. 

Having the porridge would be an excellent solution supplement to breastfeeding since it would provide some nutrients that breastfeeding cannot provide. Additionally, processing the local produce before making the porridge with them would let the local women working at the cooperative know that pesticides are harmful and they might share this knowledge with other locals of the region. If done right this might even be able to spark some change in agricultural practices. An advantage of this would be that there could be an important shift from using store-bought pesticides to natural pesticides and herbicides like manure.

Step 7: Implications of your solution on the venture

  • Technology- the technological implications of the solution would be that it would require more physical capital such as extra machines to better clean the product to reduce the potential risk of pesticide residue from the porridge. However, this might also spark a change in the agricultural field since if farmers are aware that the pesticides they use on the product are harmful, then they would likely use natural pesticides which would help make the solution more cost-efficient.
  • Economic- the economic implications of the solution is that a lot more money would go in the making of the product. There would be a lot less money allocated for the marketing of the product since many of the target markets are unfamiliar with the product. Although this is not necessarily a bad thing, it might not be sustainable for the venture to use local produce to manufacture porridge in the long run especially if they cannot sell enough of them.
  • Social- the solution has a major social implication in that it is sort of based on the assumption that the consumers of this region would even buy the porridge in the first place. Since mothers in this region are culturally accustomed to exclusively breastfeeding their children, it would be difficult to market the product since it would essentially mean changing their way of doing things. However, if done correctly, the porridge could be supplemented with breastfeeding and would be incredibly helpful with bringing down the growth stunting rate of the region.
  • Environmental- the environmental implication of this solution would be that the processing of the product might leave behind harmful chemicals that might hurt the surrounding environment if they are not taken care of properly.

Part 2: Grassroots Diplomacy

Step 1: Determine the facts in the situation:

Facts: 

  • The women have a chance to sell their locally grown produce to the cooperative
  • They like this arrangement because it saves them time and money
  • When they bring the money back home, they are forced to give it to the males
  • Men spend money on alcohol and other things
  • The twin outcomes of the cooperative are not achieved
  • I only have 6 months left at this cooperative
  • The other members of the board want things to change as well
  • The women are not unhappy about giving their money to the males but do not like the fact that the males don’t look after their families.

Issue: 

  • The women cannot use the money directly to improve the nutrition of their children because of aggressive male members of the family who take their money away and use it on alcohol and other frivolous things.

Step 2 & 3: Define the Stakeholders and Motivations (personal vs professional)

  • The children: 
    1. Personal:
      1. Want the porridge to taste good
      2. Need food that will help them grow
    2. Professional: None 
  • The mothers: 
    1. Personal:
      1. Want their children to be properly fed (no pesticides) and HIV/AIDS free 
    2. Professional:
      1. Make money
  • Myself/the cooperative: 
    1. Personal:
      1. Improve the nutritional status of the children and improve the livelihoods of rural communities
    2. Professional:
      1. Build credibility to get more funding for future projects
  • The women who joined the cooperative:
    1. Personal:
      1. Income opportunity
      2. passion for the cause
    2. Professional:
      1. To produce nutrient-packed porridge using locally grown produce.
  • Government/other groups (secondary):
    1. Personal:
      1. Want to reduce growth stunting cases to go down
      2. Improve livelihoods.
    2. Professional:
      1. Develop the country overall
  • Donors (secondary):
    1. Personal: 
      1. Improve livelihoods of the families and reduce the growth stunting
    2. Professional: None
  • Men:
    1. Personal:
      1. They just want the women’s money and want to spend it on desirable things for themselves.
    2. Professional: 
      1. Instead of spending money on alcohol, they could work with the women and make their own money.  
  • The six members of the leadership group: 
    1. Personal:
      1. They want what is best for the cooperation
      2. They want the women of the cooperation to use their own money instead of surrendering before their husbands because these members are local women who likely struggle with similar issues.
    2. Professional: 
      1. They want to achieve the twin outcomes of the cooperation.

Step 4,5,6: Formulate an alternative solution:

  • Optimal Solution: Bring together leaders in the community and discuss the issue immediately and talk about the ⅓ rule of payment. Essentially how it would work is, the cooperative would function as an equity firm. The workers can work for the cooperation and have one-third of their income be given to them immediately, one-third be saved by the company as bonds and the rest of the money could be used to provide the women with high-value products such as goats or chickens which can generate income for their families in the long term. The cooperation could establish a separate store at the cooperative where the workers could use the money right away to purchase these products. This would stop the males from taking the money away because they would already use the money to buy products. This solution also allows the women to generate income for their families for the long term without any major risks because they would be guaranteed their money in the future when the cooperation bond matures. The males would also likely be in favor of this decision because it would mean that they would receive more money in the future instead of a small sum immediately. This solution meets the twin goals because it incentivizes the women to keep working at the cooperation by providing essentials, securing their future through bonds, and avoiding having to deal with the males of the households while also making sure that they get the necessary items the women need to properly take care of their families.
  • Pros: 
    • Gives immediate and long term benefits to the women
    • Gives the men a reason to not take the money from the women immediately since they would get more in the future.
    • Allows the women to buy essential products like the porridge to feed their children which would help minimize the growth stunting in the region
  • Cons:
    • The men might be resistant to the idea of the women not having enough money to give to them and this might lead to abuse 
    • There could be a trust issue since the idea of bonds might be new to them
    • Getting only one-third of the income at a time might not be sufficient for them to sustain their families
  • Short term implication of the venture:
    • In the short term, the venture might run into problems of retaining the workers because having only one-third of their income given to them at a time might not work out that well because it would be a very low amount.
    • There would be a lot of trust issues between the employees and the cooperation since this system of payment would be new to them.
  • Long term implications of the venture:
    • The cooperation could be able to sustain itself and thrive at some point if they can build trust with the women they employ.
    • The women would be happy since they would have a steady source of income as well as a plan for their future.
    • This solution could potentially get the males to start doing something productive to earn their own money instead of relying on women.
  • Saving face:
    • The women get a chance to save face since they do not need to confront the men regularly about their income since they would spend it on essential items.
    • The cooperation saves face by discussing their ideas with local leaders and getting them on board with their plan and allowing the women to get a steady source of income.
    • The men save face by not relying on the women for money but getting a job to pay for their things
    • The committee saves face by coming up with a great plan to achieve the twin outcome goals of the cooperation.
  • Assistance sought to come up with the solution:
    • The class discussion and the group discussion mainly helped in brainstorming ideas from which the group narrowed it down to this solution.

Step 7: Implementation steps:

  • Apply grassroots diplomacy steps to bring about change in the large scale in the long run by talking to local leaders
  • Ask the women if the solution works for them 
    • Getting their feedback is very important
  • Validate the process and discuss with male leaders (25 to 30 males) and get them on board
  • Validate the process and discuss with female leaders
  • Get recommendations from all of the stakeholders before making any major decisions
  • Hire people to handle the bonds/finance related activities 
  • Hire people to maintain the store
  • Take a survey from the women to see which items they spend the most money on
  • From this survey, buy products in bulk for the store
  • Get in touch with government officials/organizations to see if they can donate products to the store
  • Take surveys from the women in the future to see how the cooperation impacted their lives