The fastest way to progress is taking the marked paved road.”
GLOBAL MODELS & INSPIRATION
When Mahatma Gandhi marched to the sea on the "Salt March," he inspired hundreds of millions of Indians to believe the British Empire could be fought and defeated without violence. At the same time, he made the British realize that the era of colonialism was over.
Dr. Martin Luther King's "I Have a Dream" speech inspired millions of Black Americans to expect and demand equal rights. At the same time, he made white people understand that white supremacy is no longer acceptable.
Kennedy's speech, "We choose to go to the Moon", followed by the landing on the Moon, made people realize that our achievements are bounded by nothing but our dreams, not even by gravity. Kennedy directly links the ability to reach the Moon with the need to reorganize ourselves; “because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills”.
The “Salt March”, the "I Have a Dream", and the "We Choose to Go to the Moon" actions and speeches aimed at one thing: to reorganize society so that nations and humanity can step forward to a better future, a future of Freedom, Equality, and Knowledge and Rights.
They inspired those who participated in and witnessed those events. They viewed those events as “inspirational working models for necessary changes”.
Energized by those “inspiring working models”, people worldwide copied, adjusted, localized, and applied those ‘working models’ to their needs, whether they faced precisely the same or somewhat different challenges.
There is no way to over-emphasize the critical role those "inspiring field-proven working models" play in helping people reorganize their societies so they, too, can step forward to a better future.
Can you imagine how getting rid of colonialism would look without the inspiring model set by Gandhi?
Can you imagine the global state of equality without Dr. King’s “I Have a Dream” speech?
Can you imagine national and private investments in technological innovation, entrepreneurship, economic development, and risk-taking without the US Moon project?
Each of the examples above signifies a significant leap forward for humanity. Such leaps are followed by a prolonged gradual refinement and improvement as others emulate and enhance these successful "frog-leap working models".
“To see is to believe”; humans need to witness inspiring working models before they commit to doing things differently, which they translate to ‘higher risk’.
We all need role models, particularly in cases of making complex social changes.
If a significant change requires an inspiring "frog leap working model", does the agro sector have such a model for transforming the lives of hundreds of millions living in impoverished rural communities?
Unfortunately, no.
Could it be that there is already “a frog leap working model”, which we can easily emulate, adapt, and improve but are unaware of because we frame that model wrongly?
TWO AGRO MODELS
Since the end of World War II, there have been two major standard agricultural models in use:
(1) The industrial-business model. It is typically practiced in developed economies, and its farmers belong to the middle class.
(2) The smallholder farming/subsistence farming. It is typically practiced in developing economies, and its farmers suffer from poverty.
Countless attempts were made to introduce Model 1 to developing countries, but, as we know, these failed, leaving smallholders in persistent poverty.
How do we get over this?
There are two options:
A. Paving a road - Introducing a novel frog-leap socio-reorganizational model to transform impoverished rural communities into prosperity.
B. Taking the paved road - Finding “a field-proven frog-leap working model” and emulating it while adjusting and improving to fit the “local circumstances”.
Countless attempts were made to develop a novel model, i.e., group A, in the past 50 years, but the results in developing economies are discouraging.
In recent columns, I presented a particular group of impoverished farmers that, by developing a novel frog-leap socio-reorganizational model, managed to escape poverty into the never-ending green fields of prosperity.
The experimental–conceptual model those farmers developed and implemented (with on-the-fly changes) was inspiring, for it was highly successful.
Other farmers that witnessed the successful results of that “experimental model” were inspired by it and began perceiving it as “a field-proven working model”.
Then, with ongoing improvements, other pioneers copied the model and applied it hundreds of times, always with success!
While this innovative model was not constrained by time or location and was openly accessible, it remained largely untapped by rural communities beyond Israel despite its adaptability for broader use.
Yet, this thriving, inspiring, field-proven working model never spread its wings and spread beyond the borders of its originating country.
Have you already recognized the country and the ‘working model’?
The country is Israel, and the working model, based on the Group Dgania model, was developed and adopted by Kibbutz and Moshav all over the country. Note that even in (each has many variations).
THE LOST AGRO MODEL
Gandhi, King, and Kennedy presented models to drive major changes.
In retrospect, the success of those models made them de facto “inspiring field-proven frog-leap working models”.
Those models changed global history, making us think and act differently than we would without them regarding significant life topics, i.e., Freedom, Equality, Technology, Innovations, etc.
But to this day, no "field-proven frog-leap working model” other than Kibbutz and Moshav has proven itself in a way that efficiently transforms impoverished rural agricultural communities into prosperous ones.
Not one other working model does as well the transformation from poverty to prosperity, yet those models never established themselves outside the borders of Israel!
We must ask why those models never left Israel.
* Lack of celebrity? Maybe because there was not one famous behind these innovations?
* Lack of PR?
* Limited to Israelis? I heard experts saying the Kibbutz can’t be practiced anywhere outside Israel because Israelis are “different”. It reminded me of the Americans who said that only they could do the atomic bomb and then the rocket to the Moon.
* Incompatibility with the Agricultural Package outside Israel? The Kibbutz model is not stand-alone but part of the Agro Package (supported by the Gov. or private initiative) that contains an ecosystem, business models, technologies, and services, which, without the End-2-End coordinated mechanism, can't effectively operate.
* Misunderstanding the critical role of those models in shaping the global rural communities.
Whatever the reasons are, there was no serious attempt to emulate the Kibbutz or Moshav concept or principles in other countries.
That is a shame.
(* Note that the communist Kolkhoz's concept and principles are nothing like those of the Kibbutz or Moshav, and it failed!)
Throughout history, Israelis have perceived themselves as a source of light to the world in introducing socio-organization (order).
Such was the case with the transformation in Mount Sinai, with Moses' assistance, when a nation of slaves became a nation of free people led by high values symbolized by the Ten Commandments.
Three thousand three hundred (3,300) years later, the Israelis returning to the Promised Land introduced a second breaking-through, a second socio-organizational transformation, enabling the transformation of impoverished rural communities to prosper one and globally well-recognized as becoming successful in a super short (historically) time.
Separated by three millennia, those are the most significant two innovations the Israelis had given the world.
The Kibbutz/Moshav models originated from Israel but are not ours/theirs to keep.
On the contrary, we must globally spread that "field-proven frog leap working model" innovation to as many rural communities as possible, enabling them to prosper and succeed.
By doing this, we will not fight poverty but create prosperity like the world has never witnessed.
SPREADING THE GOSPEL
Five hundred fifty million (550m) smallholders globally live in poverty, and some suffer from hunger. They support 2.2 billion people, and their daily dream is to have enough food on the plate for the next meal.
Is it not our duty to enable them access to the most advanced, breaking-through, field-proven working model that can transfer them and their communities to prosperity in the shortest time?
The Israeli agro-community's transformation from impoverished to prosperous is second to none; a dream realized thanks to groundbreaking innovation in socio-economic-organizational models and the human desire for a better life.
This innovative model, called Kibbutz/Moshav, has been field-proven since 1910 - for over 120 years based on transparent and replicable principles.
Within Israel, we copied and successfully applied those models (in numerous variations) to every corner of the country, giving rise to hundreds of thriving rural communities with members from all continents.
Hasn't the time come for us to spread the model, with proper localized adjustments, to rural communities outside Israel that need it more than anything?
Is there a more significant duty than that!?
I say to all those who are struggling daily or wish to help those struggling - Don't wait; let's do it now; let's do it together.
=========================
Here are four ways you can work with me to help your rural communities step forward to shift from poverty into ongoing prosperity:
* Consultancy on rural communities' lifestyles: Why, What, and How, e.g., based on the Kibbutz and Moshav lifestyles.
* Local & National programs related to agro-produce export - Dream Valley global vertical value and supply chain business model and concept connects (a) input suppliers with farmers in developing economies and (b) those farmers with consumers in premium markets.
* Crop protection: Biofeed, an eco-friendly zero-spray control and protocol solution, is most suitable for developing countries.
* IBMA Conference - To learn, share, and practice novel business models: the IBMA 2024 conference theme is “Reshaping Agribusiness Models for Building Prosperous Rural Communities." Register now.
TAKEAWAY MESSAGES
Ø HISTORICAL FIGURES like Gandhi, King, and Kennedy gave us "field-proven frog leap working models for change", inspiring socio-economic transformation.
Ø THE AGRO SECTOR LACKS a similar "field-proven frog-leap working model" for impoverished communities' transformation to prosperity.
Ø ISRAEL'S KIBBUTZ AND MOSHAV MODELS offer field-proven frog leap working models with ample success stories, urging global dissemination for rural prosperity.
****************************
More on the October 7th genocide in South Israel:
****************************
If you got to here, read this column, and enjoyed it, please be nice to your friends, share it with them, or help them Subscribe.
"Change begins with a decision that the existing reality is a choice and not a decree of fate."
See you soon,
Nimrod
Dr. Nimrod Israely is the CEO and Founder of Dream Valley and Biofeed companies and the Chairman and Co-founder of the IBMA conference. +972-54-2523425 (WhatsApp), or email nisraely@biofeed.co.il
P.S.
If you missed it, here is a link to last week's blog, “Unlocking The Kibbutz Paradox And The Heart of Motivation To Drive Prosperity”.
P.P.S.
Dream Valley is a field-proven disruptive business model based on the successful Israeli Model.
*This article addresses general phenomena. The mention of a country/continent is used for illustration purposes only.