Thailand is the world's second-largest exporter of rice and yet a large proportion of rice farmers live in poverty, and so in 2011, the government reacted with a controversial subsidy programme (1). MBA students Palmmy and her co-founder, Neil, conceived their own sustainable, scalable and irreversible solution to the challenge.
Jasberry (previously Siam Organic) is a social enterprise that solves the problem of farmer poverty through innovative organic products with global appeal. This began with the eponymous variety, jasberry rice, discovered by researchers which not only brings higher yields and lower costs for the farmers but also has nutritional benefits for consumers. The organisation connects with farmers, individuals and cooperatives, to train them on how to grow the crop as well as supplying them with high-quality non-GMO rice seeds. They work with the farmers to modernise their agricultural methods and encourage them to share knowledge and best practice. In addition to the transition of crop and methods, Jasberry provides micro-financing through a partnership with Kiva. Jasberry also runs an IT programme to help farmers to integrate technology into their methods.
Farmers are required to keep at least 25% of their harvests for household consumption regardless of their yield to ensure food security. The rest, Jasberry purchases directly. As part of processing the rice, the farmer's cooperative employs 50 women in the packaging facility to ensure that the local community benefits at all stages of production. Beginning with just 25 farmers in the first year, the organisation now works with 2,500 farmers, increasing their average daily salary from $0.40 to about $5.80 per day.
