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Market Matters Inc. A Special Appeal to Sustaining Members ~ 2014
Dear Friends of Market Matters Inc.
Greetings from Ithaca and from all of us at Market Matters Inc.!
As you recall, our logo depicts three interlinked circles, symbolizing the connection among markets, firms, and com-munities that MM Inc. set out to build and strengthen, through its various programs, over 10 years ago. This year,we would like to ‘add’ a fourth circle to these three - that of a special circle of committed supporters (Sustaining Members) who are able to make a more sustained, 3-5 year commitment to the work of our organization. Speficically, we would like you to consider committing to making a minimum annual contribution of USD1,000 for the next 3 years. Through this type of commitment our organization would have a solid support base for the next few years to count on.
Although we know that you are familiar with our work in broad terms, we thought it would be useful to give you a quick overview of the breadth and depth of our reach and achievements in the last decade. As you look through this brief document, you will read about our capacity building programs, which are a key focus for MM Inc. You will also see a profile of one of our successful alumni - agribusiness entrepreneur Jacky Goliath of South Africa. Finally, we will share with you a sampling of research projects, expert reports, and other contributions MM Inc. has made to African devel-opment since 2003. I think you will agree with me that for an organization its size, MM Inc. has a significant footprint across the African continent - and we have recently started work on projects in Asia as well. Most importantly, I hope this document will give you a good sense of what support like yours can enable us to achieve in emerging markets around the world.
To pledge your support, please contact our COO, Krisztina Tihanyi, who will be happy to record your pledge.
We hope to hear from you soon.
With gratitude and best wishes:
Ralph D. Christy, CEO
Faces of the Businesses We Work With
What participants have to say...
“What I can say about the Making Markets Matter workshop is that it really opened my eyes to a lot of things. The lectures were very informative and spot on. We were given a chance to interact and participate. What I have learnt has not only helped me in business, it has also made an impact on my life skills as I am now applying the same principles on a daily basis. The opportunity to net-work with people from different backgrounds, businesses, cultures and countries brought insight and understanding on how other businesses operate, survive, and prosper in the agribusiness world.”
“I hope each of us can go to our home countries and affect some-one, somewhere, a business, a colleague, positively. Opportunities are not so many in this world, we need to help others so that many more through us are given hope – you gave me hope, I will give hope to others.”
“Powerful. Informative. Empowering.”
“I want more. What is the next level from here? Where will MMM take us next?”
Making Markets Matter - Capacity Building with a Difference Since 2001
In 2001 Market Matters Inc. recognized the need for a high-quality and comprehensive agribusiness training program for small and medium agroenterprises (SMEs) in emerging markets. This recognition led to the creation of Making Markets Matter (MMM) - an agribusiness training program that provides an introduction to the building blocks of business management, along with opportunities to network with industry stakeholders, fellow business leaders, and other agribusiness practitioners. To date, MMM has been offered in Africa, and the program has trained nearly 1,900 businesses in its 14 years of operation. What started as a small initiative with 30 participants has grown into a well-known and respected agribusiness training program in Africa. Plans are under way to expand the success of MMM to other emerging markets in Asia.
The success of the program is best captured through feedback from participants and the success of our alumni. Below are comments from our recent programs; see “A Profile in Success on page 6 to read about an alumna of the program.
MMM by numbers: 2001-2014
Number of participants trained: 1884
Number of women trained: 713
African countries represented: 24
Read more about our training programs online.
A profile in success: Jacky Goliath and DeFynne Nursery
In 2001, a young horticulturalist name Jacqueline “Jacky” Goliath par-ticipated in the inaugural Making Markets Matter program. Fast for-ward 13 years, and Jacky is the co-owner and Managing Director of De Fynne Nursery, a wholesale nursery located in South Africa’s Western Cape that produces indigenous pot plants, fruit trees and other orna-mentals for the local horticultural and agricultural industry.
By Jacky’s own admission, when she started in 2001 with 1,000 plants in the small back-yard nursery, she never dreamed that it would grow into a 600,000 plant production nursery that employs twenty-five employees and exhibits at tradeshows in Japan, the USA, and South Africa. Nor did she see that, in 2012, the nursery would relocate to a large farm and expand its operations to include plums and other fruits, destined for export.
What Jacky did see was a need in the marketplace that matched her training and passion - thirteen years - and much hard work - later, this MMM alumna is the proud owner of a vibrant company with an excit-ing future.
Jacky showing her company’s products during a recent MMM company tour.
DeFynne’s products being prepared for sale at Woolworth’s, one of South Africa’s high-end supermarkets.
Click here to view a video portrait of De
Fynne online.
Our Growing Footprint
Although a small organization in size, MM Inc. has quite an impressive - and growing - footprint on the African conti-nent and beyond. Below is a sampling of the range of work our organization has done since its founding in 2001.
Publications Research Contributions
MM Inc. has authored, edited, and co-authorednumerous case studies of agribusinesses in emerg-ing markets, plenary papers for international meet-ings, research publications, and two edited volumes of case studies of South Africa and Innovative Insti-tutions in Private Enterprise Development. We have recently begun work a set of case studies from Asia.
We have lent our research expertise to numerous proj-ects, including:• A pilot study of a new Seed Access Index for Africa
(with Agri-Experience - Kenya).• A market analysis of cereal fortification in
Botswana (with the University of Botswana)• A feasibility study of Africa’s seed industry (with the
Gates Foundation)• A survey of tertiary agribusiness training programs
in Africa (with ANAFE)• A literature survey of women in agribusiness in
Africa (with ANAFE)• A needs assessment of WASAA (an organization of
women-owned enterprises in Africa) (with AGRA)• Market feasibility of morama-based products (con-
sortium with the Swedish Agricultural Univeriaty and the U. of Botswana)
Over the ten-year span of the program, we have provided business management training to SME agribusiness owners and top management as well as representatives of governmental and nongovernmental organizations working in the area of SME development from across the African continent. We have worked with individuals along the agribusiness supply-chain, from farmers to business owners producing value-added food products. Every year we strive to increase the participation of women business owners, still underrepresented in the African agribusiness sectors.
How to get in touch with us:
By e-mail: [email protected] phone: 1 607 280 0176By mail: 401 S. Albany Street Ithaca, NY 14850
