Blog Post 17: What EWB Does Right

I didn't come to Zambia to explain the benefits of EWB over my blog. You can look on their website for those. Neither did I set out to write boring blog posts. Because I hate reading boring blogs. So let me attempt to do neither, and at the same time explain why EWB is unlike other NGOs, and what we do right.

First, working in the field is not part of my TOR (Terms of Reference). I am instead expected to work with one person, my counterpart Willard, and help him become a better field officer. Additionally I should be looking at the IDE systems that are in place, and offer recommendations for improvement. The idea here is that I spend lots of time working with one person, and even after I leave that one person can have a great effect on every farmer he works with.

So lets get to the point. Can working with one person and only one person have an effect? Is it a worthwhile use of resources? Allow me to illustrate with an example...

The farmer I stay with is a hard working man. He doesn't need me to spend an hour each morning to help him irrigate his gardens, or transplant crops, or apply fertilizer. He can do these things about 5 times faster than me (with the exception, of irrigation which he does about 2 times faster). But I like to help for two reasons, first I am learning a ton and I am also (I hope) building a trusting relationship with him. And in the evenings I probably spend an hour or two talking with him and his family over dinner and after, usually about business and farming, or Canada, or NGOs. All in all, I spend a ton of time with Mr. Morrison and his family.

Finally it has paid off. At first he was always asking for my advice, wanting to know how I can improve his farm. Ha! Like I know more about farming than he does. But with time he has come to see that while I am not the best person to ask about pesticides or different fertilizers, I can help in other ways. Like helping him to type up his business plan he made a few years ago at a training session. And while we were sitting by the treadle pump (of course!) talking about how guava and apple trees would be an interesting addition to the garden, I mentioned the product life cycle. How a new product takes a while to develop, then makes a ton of money, then competitors come and the market gets saturated, and you must keep improving the product or make a new one (thanks Andrew for the “Naked Marketing” textbook pdf). Which I applied to his garden, because he was making tons of money but now more people are gardening and profits are lessening. And how fruit trees take time to develop, but could make lots of money for a few years. And then I mentioned the SWOT analysis. Where you look at your strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and technologies it takes you to get there (actually T is for Threats but I told him it was technology because it sounded better). And for the first time ever, I heard him say “I would like your help with doing this.”

This was a massive breakthrough for me. People here love to ask me for help, and advice, but never for a specific thing. Its always: “Help us to improve our farms.” Or “Help me to have more knowledge.” Finally my help has been requested for a specific task, one that will require his input, and I know that this SWOT analysis will actually be useful to him because he wants it to happen.

So how does this relate to my actual job? What the heck does SWOT have to do with EWB? Well, I am thinking of the amount of time I have spent with this farmer before he has asked for my help. Before I actually feel like I can truly help him. Looking at IDE Pemba, a more typical NGO, who has 3 field officers, 1 intern and me, trying to help 3500 farmers, I can see it is not possible for most NGOs to spend this much time with one man. But EWB does not set unrealistic goals. We do not pretend to be able to help more farmers than we could ever know the names of. Instead we focus intently on a small aspect, and I think this is the only development technique that can lead to actual, self-sustaining change.