November December 2021
Where Christian faith gets down to business
To make lasting change MEDA sharpens focus on Agri-food Market Systems to achieve greater impact
Tanzanian firm pivots to banana distribution amid pandemic challenges Loving the city’s laborers Wisdom-based business Taking God to work
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The Marketplace November December 2021
Roadside stand
Partnering for change from farm to fork is key to MEDA’s strategic goals MEDA’s sharpened focus on agrifood market systems is a necessary response to 21st century realities. In many countries in the Global South, agriculture is a significant source of employment and a sizeable chunk of economic activity. In Tanzania, the sector accounts for over a quarter of gross national product and most jobs. In Kenya, it provides over half of total employment. In Nigeria it is reportedly responsible for over one-third of jobs. Accordingly, the sector is of primary attention in MEDA’s efforts to create 500,000 decent jobs over the course of a decade. But as MEDA staffers Millie Gadbois and Helal Ahsan-Ul-Haque point out in this issue’s cover story (page 9), helping farmers grow better crops, while important, is an incomplete response. Addressing issues related to how food is processed, distributed, sold, and consumed are also required. MEDA is far from alone in adopting this point of view. A study published by the INGO impact investing network in late 2018 found that sustainable agriculture was the most frequently cited area for investments. The need for carefully considered long-term investments in the sector is far beyond what either governments or development organizations could ever provide. Greater innovation and private sector funding will be required to feed and create jobs for a global population that is expected to grow from 7.7 billion to 8.5 billion by 2030. Even with the best-laid plans, investments in equipment and training, radical business pivots
by agri-food firms can be required. Tanzanian food distributor GBRI learned this when pandemic restrictions threatened to shutter its export-focused business (see story, page 13). Coming generations will require assistance to cope with swings in weather and natural disasters more than ever. The 172 million children born in sub-Saharan Africa over the past five years will face close to six times as many extreme weather events in their lives as their grandparents did, a new international study suggests. The report, published by Belgium’s Vrije Universiteit Brussel in collaboration with several British universities, says the next generation will have to endure three times as
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many floods and crop failures as people born 60 years earlier. Bleak as the average projection is, the outlook for some nations is even worse. Children in Mali, for example, will be faced with up to 10 times as many crop failures as their elders have had to endure. “This basically means that people younger than 40 today will live an unprecedented life even under the most stringent climate change mitigation scenarios,” lead author Wim Thiery said. “Our results highlight a severe threat to the safety of young generations and call for drastic (carbon) emission reductions to safeguard their future.” The article Intergenerational inequities in exposure to climate extremes is published in Science Magazine, September 2021.
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In this issue
Ray Dirks photo
Features
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Taking God to Work
California entrepreneurs share how their faith intersects with their work, one in agriculture, the other in marketing jewelry.
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The importance of Agri-Food Market Systems
MEDA aims to partner for lasting, sustainable impact.
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Going bananas in a positive way Tanzanian food distributor finds growth opportunity in yellow fruit amid pandemic restrictions.
Lockdown forced company to switch from beans to bananas
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Care for blue collar neighbors
Denver Institute for Faith & Work examines ways to create shared prosperity.
Departments 22 Roadside stand 24 Soul enterprise 19 Soundbites 22 Books in brief Yacine Ndaw is president of the RABIA women's group in Senegal's Tambacounda region. 3
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Soul Enterp prise
Three Prayers for businesspeople By April Yamasaki At the first meeting of The Upper Deck Company in March of 1988, President Paul Sumner invited the other five men in the room to join him in prayer: “Dear God,” Sumner began. “Here we are, the group of us, creating a new corporation. The Upper Deck Company — it’s like having a little baby, so fresh and young and tender. Give us the wisdom and strength to guide ourselves through this place called Earth. Give us the knowledge to raise this entity with poise and confidence. Help us to lay our foundation on sound principles and to organize its power in such a form, as it will be, to most likely effect its safety and happiness. And for the support of this endeavor with a firm reliance on the protection of divine providence, we mutually pledge to each other our sacred honor — Amen.” “Amen,” the other five men said in unison. As recounted in Card Sharks: How Upper Deck Turned a Child’s Hobby into a HighStakes, Billion-Dollar Business by Pete Williams, MacMillan 1995. Within the year the newly launched Upper Deck Company issued its first set of baseball cards — a premium product printed on higher quality paper instead of regular cardboard stock, with a unique hologram to guard against counterfeiting. The following year the company expanded its licensed products to include hockey, football, and basketball cards. Today Upper Deck continues to produce sports cards along with electronic cards, toys, and games. The “little baby” of 1988 has grown “with poise and confidence” just as The Marketplace November December 2021
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Sumner had envisioned in his prayer. Yet the mutual pledge of “sacred honor” among the six men that started the company didn’t last long. Tensions surfaced, and within months, Bill Hemrick had resigned as vice president of marketing; Boris Korbel, who started as vice president of manufacturing, replaced Paul Sumner as president; and Richard McWilliam, vice president of finance, demanded a larger share of the ownership. Clearly their prayer was no guarantee that their partnership would go smoothly, and their story raises questions about how we might pray for our business ventures today. Is praying for business in the Bible? Before they became followers of Jesus, Simon Peter, James, and his brother, John, were partners in a fishing business. Lydia was both a worshipper of God and a dealer in fine fabrics. Paul was an entrepreneur who also worked for a time alongside Aquila and Priscilla as fellow tentmakers. As an evangelist and church planter, Paul regularly prayed for the churches that were part of his ministry. To the church in Philippi, he wrote: “I thank my God every time I remember you. In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy” (1:3-4). To the church in Thessalonika: “We always thank God for all of you and continually mention you in our prayers. We remember before our God and Father your work produced by faith, your labor prompted by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.” (1:2-3). But while Paul didn’t hesitate to pray for the church’s “work produced by faith,” did he also pray for the work of his hands in making tents? Did Lydia pray for the success of her business? Did the fishing partners ever pray for a good catch
or for calm weather or for mutual honor in their business partnership? We have no evidence that they prayed for their business in these ways, yet Scripture clearly understands everything as a matter of prayer, as in Philippians 4:6: “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.” Surely “anything” and “every situation” includes our business ventures too. In that spirit, here are three business prayers for today. Prayer for wisdom “If any of you lacks wisdom,” says James 1:5, “you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.” At the start of his reign, King Solomon asked God for wisdom to govern the people. So too running a business today requires wisdom — to establish sound principles, to discern the way forward, to deal with technical, financial, personnel, and other issues. God, grant me wisdom in faithfully stewarding this business in ways that honor you and for the good of others. Prayer for God’s favor The psalmist prayed, “May the favor of the Lord our God rest on us; establish the work of our hands for us” (Psalm 90:17). Yet in the Bible, prayers for success are also tempered by humility. As James 1:11 reminds us, “the rich will fade away even while they go about their business.” God, this business and our very lives are in your hands. Guide our decisions and look upon our efforts with favor. Prayer for God’s will James 4:13-15 offers this rebuke: Now listen, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that 5
city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.” Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. Instead, you ought to say, “If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.” God, whether we make money or struggle, whether we expand or need to cut back, direct our steps and may your will be done.
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April Yamasaki is a pastor and writer, currently serving as resident author for Valley CrossWay Church, Abbotsford, B.C. Her first job was working in the office for her father’s business.
Volume 51, Issue 6 November December 2021 The Marketplace (ISSN 321-330) is published bi-monthly by Mennonite Economic Development Associates at 532 North Oliver Road, Newton, KS 67114. Periodicals postage paid at Newton, KS 67114. Lithographed in U.S.A. Copyright 2021 by MEDA. Editor: Mike Strathdee Design: Ray Dirks
Postmaster: Send address changes to The Marketplace 33 N Market St., Suite 400, Lancaster, PA 17603-3805 Change of address should be sent to Mennonite Economic Development Associates, 33 N Market St, Suite 400, Lancaster, PA 17603-3805. To e-mail an address change, subscription request or anything else relating to delivery of the magazine, please contact subscription@meda.org For editorial matters, email mstrathdee@meda.org or call (800) 665-7026, ext. 705 Subscriptions: $35/year; $55/two years. Published by Mennonite Economic Development Associates (MEDA). MEDA’s economic development work in the Global South creates business solutions to poverty. MEDA also facilitates the connection of faith and work through discussions, publications and conventions for participants. For more information about MEDA call 1-800-6657026. Web site www.meda.org Want to see back issues or reread older articles? Visit https://www.meda.org/download-issues/ The Marketplace is printed on Rolland Enviro® Satin and is made with 100% post-consumer sustainable fiber content, FSC® Certified to help meet client sustainability requirements, Acid Free, Elemental Chlorine Free
Cover photo of Yacine Ndaw by Attekh Ngom/MEDA Senegal
The Marketplace November December 2021
Taking God to work By Suzanne Hadley Gosselin My first job out of college was serving as a children’s magazine editor at a large Christian organization. As I edited content for kids designed to help them grow in their relationship with God, it was easy to see how my work was contributing to the kingdom. Many of my peers had a different experience. They worked as realtors, mechanics, human resources specialists, teachers, nurses and administrative assistants. Most of them had jobs where they lived out their faith in more subtle (and at times more difficult) ways than how I lived out mine. While we can’t know an exact number, Christians who work for churches or faith-based organizations are certainly the minority compared to those who don’t. Even the Apostle Paul, one of the most famous missionaries of all time, made his living making tents. And a study, Christians at Work, conducted by Barna research in 2019, reveals that 55 percent of pastors had another career before pursuing vocational ministry. Bible passages about work seem to assume that believers are using their skills and influence in a variety of vocations. Even Jesus was a trained carpenter. And Song of Songs, believed to be written by King Solomon, who possessed divine wisdom, says: “Behold, what I have seen to be good and fitting is to eat and drink and find enjoyment in all the toil with which one toils under the sun the few days of his life that God has given him, for this is his lot,” (Ecclesiastes 5:18). The author doesn’t specify The Marketplace November December 2021
which job a person should have, only that the worker should enjoy his work and be content in it because it is from the Lord. From the Garden of Eden (Genesis 1) to the future new Jerusalem (Isaiah 65), we can see that work is part of God’s plan for his created beings. I spoke to two believers living and working in the Central Valley of California who have found ways to “take God to work” with them in
very different career fields. Josh Newfield, 38, grew up in Bakersfield, with a heritage in the farming industry and the Mennonite Brethren community. “My grandfather on my dad’s side was Mennonite and was born in Russia and came here when he was 8 years old,” he says. Growing up, Newfield watched his father and grandfather work their family business, producing
Josh Newfield with children George, Jack, Sophie and Kaitlyn sit by a pistachio tree near a blueberry field. 6
Jara Hinkle (l) does photography and marketing for a firm that sells jewelry and accessories crafted by artisans in Ecuador.
boxes for grapes. “I was raised to know that working hard glorifies God and is part of what we do as Christians,” he says. Newfield observed how his father worked long hours in a stressful environment in a godly way. His dad would explain to his children that he worked hard because of his faith.
“I ended up in the farm management business by accident,” says Newfield, who originally studied psychology in college. “My father-in-law managed a farm that grew blueberries and pistachios, and I ended up seasonally managing the blueberry packing operation along with my other job.” That job eventually became 7
full-time. “Packing blueberries, we worked long, long hours — seven days a week, 14 hours a day, for two months,” he says. “It’s kind of insane, but it’s fresh fruit. It’s coming in, and it’s got to go out.” The remainder of the year, he worked in the field helping with irrigation management and pruning. The Marketplace November December 2021
In 2018, when his father-inlaw retired, Newfield started his own farm management company and took over the pistachio clients. His business, Newfield Ag Management, now manages 1,000 acres of pistachios and has seven employees. Josh serves as an elder at The Bridge Bible Church and plays guitar on the worship team, but he sees his day job as an opportunity to proclaim Christ in simple, meaningful ways. “I try to be a generous boss,” he says. “The farming industry is stressful because you’re dependent on factors outside of your control, like the weather. It’s common for managers to take these frustrations out on their employees. That’s not how I treat my guys; I show them respect. They notice and have even remarked on it. I’m able to say it’s all because of my faith.” Newfield, a married father of four children ages 4-13, says it’s important to him to live a consistent witness on the job. “I don’t want to have a work persona and a church persona,” he says. “I don’t want to be one guy on Sunday mornings and another guy at work.” He admits doing this can be difficult when job responsibilities mount and pressures arise. “I still have to do good work,” he says. “But I don’t have to be a jerk. I can treat people with dignity.” Jara Hinkle, 27, works as marketing director at Organic Tagua Jewelry, a company founded by a Christian couple. Tagua sells jewelry and accessories crafted by artisans in Ecuador using the tagua nut. “It’s a generational art that’s been passed down for many years,” Hinkle says. The founder of the company, who is originally from Ecuador herself, “saw that these artisans had the skills but didn’t know how The Marketplace November December 2021
to make money doing it,” Hinkle explains. “I love hearing about how these artisans can now provide for their kids and families through the jobs our company has provided. It’s an amazing opportunity to help a community and push it forward.” Growing up, she was always interested in fashion. This led her to pursue a degree in fashion marketing at the University of Central Oklahoma, in her home state. Hinkle says that working to honor God was a principle her parents instilled in her as a child. She finds inspiration from Colossians 3:23, which says, “Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men” (ESV). “I keep that in mind when I encounter frustrations,” she says. “There are always frustrations in any job. Working for the Lord means I put in my best effort.” Hinkle’s hard work has led to some lucrative opportunities such as managing a women’s clothing and accessories store during college and nabbing a denim design internship at another large clothing retailer following graduation. A few months later she married her husband, Stephen, and joined him in Florida where he was serving as a youth pastor. She worked a few jobs in Florida before landing at Tagua, which was an answer to prayer. “I wanted to work in fashion with a company that was fair trade,” she says. “That combination isn’t easy to find. But God provided
"...work is part of God’s plan for his created beings."
it in my current job.” Early this year, the couple moved across the country for a worship pastor position at The Bridge Bible Church in Bakersfield, California. Now she works remotely, performing many duties for Tagua, including graphic design, managing two websites, photography and even a little jewelry design. She loves that her job is fast paced, and she gets to do a lot of different things. “I’m always researching different ways of doing things and trying to improve,” she says. “I think I’ve been able to push the company forward and help us stand out from competitors. I love seeing growth.” Even though she’s no longer in the office, Hinkle starts each day with prayer about her workday. “I pray I’ll have wisdom,” she says. “I pray for my coworkers. It brings peace that gets me through the day.” Newfield and Hinkle set an example for living out faith in the workplace. 1 Corinthians 10:31 says, “So, whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.” All includes work. At times we may feel like the purpose of work is simply to pay the bills, but we’re created to find purpose and satisfaction through vocation, ultimately, to bring God glory. Whether out in a pistachio field, behind a camera or in some other job, Christians can live out their faith in the workplace. As we seek God’s wisdom to address job-related challenges, and seek to love like Jesus, his light will shine in and through us, bringing hope to dark places.
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(ED: A longer version of this story originally ran in the September issue of Christian Leader magazine) Suzanne Hadley Gosselin is the co-author of “Grit and Grace: Devotions for Warrior Moms.” Her husband, Kevin, is a pastor at Bridge Bible Church, a Mennonite Brethren congregation in Bakersfield, California. They have four young children.
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Toward projects that create lasting, systemic change MEDA deepens focus on agri-food market systems to achieve impact at scale Senegal photos by Attekh Ngom/MEDA Senegal
Agriculture and improving the lives of people who work in the sector has been a key part of MEDA’s mission of creating business solutions to poverty since its inception in 1953. Shortly after MEDA was formed, a group of businessmen provided financial support to the Sarona Dairy. A breeding program at a Paraguayan farm led to higher milk production at farms throughout that South American nation, improving the Workers unload a truck containing small equipment for farmers in Senegal's Casamance region. livelihoods of many. The new aspects of MEDA’s is its entrepreneurial culture, MEDA’s enhanced focus on work involve moving from a value Gadbois said. “MEDA has been agri-food market systems in its chain focus to looking at the entire working on market systems since Towards an Equal World strategic economic and social environment, the 1950s,” she said. “A lot of plan is a natural evolution that she said. other NGOs haven’t always linked builds on past efforts, says Millie Integrating concerns about genthings to markets. MEDA has vast Gadbois, country director for the der equality, environmental susexperience in that.” organization’s Senegal projects. tainability, and climate change mitiGadbois believes the idea of With an overall goal to create gation into all projects gives MEDA smart incentives, getting funds or sustain decent work for 500,000 an edge, she said. “To put them all directly to small businesses or people over a decade, MEDA aims together in this (agri-food market farmers to improve their processes to achieve impact at scale and systems) package, that’s new.” “is brilliant.” “Not all organizations create systems-level change. MEDA’s competitive advantage do that,” she said. 9
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There are good reasons for MEDA to focus on entire agri-food market systems, she said. Early work in the broader development industry focused just on farmers and production, overlooking the demand side of the equation. “Attention was not paid on how to deal with surplus production, how to sell at good prices,” she said. More recently, the development industry has done value chain work. This involves “taking into account all the different aspects of being a farmer, being a successful farmer who can feed his or her family and hopefully have a surplus to sell at interesting prices.”
Millie Gadbois
That broader focus is key to making the lasting change that MEDA seeks to help bring about, said Helal Ahsan-Ul-Haque, MEDA’s senior director for the Eastern, Central and Southern Africa regions.
Senegal project assists farmers with access to irrigation, better seeds and fertilizer In Senegal, access to water is a key concern for farmers. The rainy season in the West African nation often runs from June or early July through October or November but has become less predictable in recent years. The dry season is the rest of the year. “Obviously you have to have a supply of water ( to grow crops)," says Millie Gadbois, MEDA’s country director for Senegal. A project funded by the Mastercard Foundation is helping with this situation. The Initiative for the Economic Resilience of Micro, Medium and Small Enterprises (IREM) is a partnership between Mastercard, MEDA and the Senegalese Institute for Agricultural Research. The IREM project is using solarpowered pumps to provide access to water 12 months of the year, “so you can plant in the off-season, or you can plant in times when there is not an over-abundance of certain vegetables,” Gadbois said. The project is also providing fencing to keep animals away from crops as “the invasion of animals looking for something to eat is rampant.” Needs that have been intensified by the pandemic mean that IREM is somewhat different than traditional MEDA projects. COVID-19 response is The Marketplace November December 2021
the focus of an initial two-year phase through 2022. A follow-on phase of an additional five years will intensify work to increase agricultural productivity, improve business performance and access to finance for people working in the sector in target regions, with a focus on women and youth. “The project is a good one…because it alleviates the suffering of farmers,” said Saidou Ba, the mayor of Niani Toucoleur, a rural community in the east of Senegal. “The (pandemic) health situation has had a negative impact on all sectors, and agriculture has not been spared.” MEDA has helped to distribute masks, gels, and flyers to raise awareness and combat the spread of the COVID-19 virus. It has also distributed high-quality seeds and fertilizer to farmers, in areas where most cannot afford to purchase fertilizer. For some, this assistance has made all the difference. Ousmane Manga, a farmer and chief of the village of Bissine, spoke of returning last year to an area that had been abandoned since 1992 due to conflict related to a separatist movement. Receiving seeds and fertilizer to resume farming “already gives us a lot of hope,” he said.
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Helal works to develop strategic partnerships with research institutions, donors, and peer organizations in order to collaborate for greater impact. He also supports country directors to further improve program capacity and quality. He recalls one project that failed to consult all relevant players when he was working with a different organization in Ethiopia. A research group came up with high-yielding varieties of maize, a form of corn. But farmers didn’t accept the new variety, saying that the crop size was too small and didn’t provide the right fodder for their animals. MEDA wants to avoid that sort of outcome by incorporating all perspectives, from production to packaging and sales to the end user, he said. “We are working throughout the value chain. That is our value proposition. That’s why we are a partner of choice.” Agriculture is crucially important in Africa, a continent that is a major area of focus for MEDA, he said. “Not just for food, but also for poverty reduction. Everything is linked with this agrifood (market) system.”
Helal Ahsan-Ul-Haque
Awa Leye is a member of a women's group that receives support from MEDA's IREM project in Senegal.
Making change at a systems level requires a change in focus that goes beyond just farmers, he said. “You have to address the government priorities, you have to address policies, the procedures. When you are addressing those systems… basically you are going beyond farmers, or clients, or micro-entrepreneurs. You are opening up this opportunity for (helping) millions.” Taking this approach means that the organization’s reach and impact will be multiplied, he said. “That is the big shift. MEDA has embraced that shift very boldly.” “This is very important from an institutional perspective.” Governments cannot afford or replicate development projects that work just with farmers in a few areas, he said. In his view, a broader systems approach will help more people. “Our role is to complement
and supplement with government policies and priorities. Government is the prime entity, so we need to collaborate together.” The majority of impact investing being done across the development sector is now in the agri-food market systems area. But many organizations are addressing only production, such as the development of new crop varieties, for example, he said. “If you don’t parallelly work with the demand side, then basically you will be losing that opportunity (to create lasting change),” he said. One of the areas where MEDA has seen success in applying a full value chain approach was with women producing pickles in Jordan, he said. Helal oversaw the Jordan Valley Links (JVL) project, which finished earlier this year. The JVL project worked with 3,000 pickle producers, 11
ensuring that women were using a consistent recipe, proper hygiene, and packaging. The project set up 12 kitchen hubs where some of these women could use welloutfitted kitchens and get advice from supervisors. Women who canned pickles at home sold to their neighbors and local communities. But the women who worked through the hubs were able to sell to wider, retail buyers. That work helped to increase the women’s sales capacity and created additional employment. In industry terminology, the JVL approach was an aggregation model. “That is the big success story,” he said. Helping farmers or microentrepreneurs put together products of consistent quality in volume leads to greater interest from the private sector. That yields higher prices and greater profitability for the producers, he said.
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Staff hire led to creation of long-time Winnipeg hub This is the fifth story in a series about MEDA hubs across North America. The hubs, more than a dozen volunteer-led groups, organize events and activities to build awareness about MEDA’s work creating business solutions to poverty, to network and to hear people share stories about faith, work, and entrepreneurship as a calling. One of MEDA’s longest-standing hubs came about in part due to a new employee’s desire to move home, and his personal connections with prominent Mennonite businesspeople. Neil Janzen was a high school teacher before serving two terms with Mennonite Central Committee (MCC). During the latter term, he became interested in international development management and subsequently completed a Master of Business Administration degree at the University of Western Ontario. In 1979, Janzen and Paul Derstine were hired by MEDA, which at the time had an office with MCC in Akron, Pennsylvania. As Janzen tells it, Milo Shantz, the Ontario entrepreneur who at the time chaired MEDA’s board, told Janzen to decide where a Canadian MEDA office should be located. For Janzen, who eventually served as MEDA president for 10 years, the choice was easy. “There was a large Mennonite business community in Winnipeg, Steinbach and Winkler,” he explained. Brent Kroeker, a Winnipeg financial adviser, has been involved in the hub for more than 25 years, the last 10 of them as chair. He was introduced to the group by his father, Art. Prior to the pandemic, the Brent Kroeker The Marketplace November December 2021
Winnipeg group would have five or six lunch meetings between the fall and the spring, generally attended by more than 30 people from the more than 300 on the group’s mailing list, he said. Speakers have frequently included area businesspeople or visiting MEDA field staff. “For me, the key thing is this face-toface fellowship… and also to hear a great talk about MEDA and business & faith.” The hub has Bert Friesen begun holding inperson events again. The next one, featuring MEDA President & CEO Dr. Dorothy Nyambi, will be held on Thursday, November 18. For Bob Kroeker (no relation to Brent), exposure to the group was a life-changing event. He first attended a hub event in 1991 and heard a talk about the use of oxen in a MEDA project in Tanzania which grabbed his interest. “I’d love to be part of something like that, making a difference.” When he attended a MEDA convention in Colorado in 1992, he was interviewed for a job at MEDA, 12
leaving behind a 27-year career managing computer programmers for the Great West Life insurance company. In 2003, he began working as a MEDA fundraiser, a role he held until retiring in 2017. Former MEDA board chair Bert Friesen cites the Winnipeg MEDA hub’s role in co-founding Opportunities for Employment (along with Mennonite Central Committee Manitoba and the Eden Foundation) as one of its more significant contributions. Since its inception more than 25 years ago, Opportunities for Employment has helped more than 27,000 difficult-toemploy Winnipeg residents get off welfare rolls and find work with more than 5,000 Manitoba employers. The three co-founders put up $50,000 each to help get the organization going, Friesen recalls. Within several years, the money was paid back. “I see that very much as a MEDA story,” he said. Friesen has attended MEDA events for more than three decades. The meetings “expanded my ability to share faith and faith stories within the business community,” he said. Other hub members recall Winnipeg supporters helping to get a wood products plant going in Jamaica, a micro-finance program in Nicaragua, the Tanzania oxen project (led by future MEDA president Allan Sauder), and work in the Soviet Union in the early 1990s.
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A pandemic inspired pivot Tanzanian agri-food firm gets increased business from move into bananas The business challenges caused by pandemic lockdowns have been more than enough to cause people to go bananas. In Hadija Jabiri’s case, a focus on the sweet yellow fruit has provided a viable alternative to closing a Tanzanian business that had previously specialized in exporting vegetables and fruits to European Union countries. Jabiri is founder and managing director of GBRI business solutions, a six-year-old Tanzanian firm that specializes in growing, processing, and exporting vegetables and fruits including French beans, peas (both
Above; GBRI staff pack bananas for distribution Below: Collecting unripe bananas in "fingers," smaller bunches makes them easier to transport.
snow peas and sugar snap), baby corn and avocados. Prior to the pandemic, the firm, which involves small-scale farmers in its production activities, exported produce to Germany, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. But when the COVID-19 pandemic took hold in March 2020, the future looked uncertain for a firm that exported 100 percent of its production. Partial and total lockdowns, restrictions on social gatherings, people’s movements and the movement of goods and services, photo by Beatrice Sawe/MEDA
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The Marketplace November December 2021
photos by Beatrice Sawe/MEDA
Pre-pandemic, GBRI staff prepared peas and French beans for export to the EU and the United Kingdom.
bans on international flights to and from countries affected by COVID-19, and closing of customs/ borders were all done in order to stop disease spread. But these measures crippled GBRI, as some of its customers stopped doing business for a while. Initially, the company wasn’t sure what to do, and wondered whether investments that it had made, and that MEDA had helped them with, would be stranded. MEDA provided a matching grant to GBRI to help the company purchase and set up a bigger cold room facility for produce. GBRI also purchased a refrigerated truck as part of that effort. MEDA worked with GBRI through its Strengthening Small Business Value Chains (SSBVC) project in Tanzania. (That project, funded by Global Affairs Canada and donations from MEDA supporters, ended June 30, 2021.) Rather than close its business completely, GBRI decided to change its marketing strategy. Last November, it began serving local markets, targeting the banana value chain and engaging banana farmers. They use 1,500 crates purchased through MEDA’s SSBVC project that were originally used for vegetables to transport bananas. Bananas are cut off of trees into The Marketplace November December 2021
“fingers”, smaller bunches that are easier to transport than traditional methods. The crates reduce product rejection, improve traceability and allow farmers to stop using bags to harvest and store fresh bananas. GBRI began going to the Mbeya region in the southwest of Tanzania. They targeted a handful of villages in the region to purchase raw bananas and bring them to their cold room facility in Iringa, a town in central Tanzania, Jabiri said. Bananas ripen at that facility and are graded. Being able to control temperature and relative humidity means that there is almost no waste and longer shelf life, compared to considerable waste under traditional storage and transportation methods. Once the bananas have ripened, GBRI distributes them to vendors. At the time of this writing, GBRI’s customers include 377 fruits and vegetable vendors, 93 percent of them women. GBRI also works with 107 small-scale banana farmers who supply the firm with raw bananas. The new business model has been successful, providing farmers with a 10 percent higher price. The company has a 60 percent market share in Iringa and 90 percent 14
Hadija Jabiri's firm has grown since moving into domestic banana distribution.
share in the town of Ilula. This arrangement has more benefits to the farmers than just having an assured market for their crop, Jabiri said. “Now they don’t need to go to the market early in the morning and incur transportation costs; we deliver these bananas right at the point of sale.” The company is supplying 90 tons of bananas per month to market. 15
When GBRI started in 2015, it had only four staff, one of them female. They now have 11 women among their 24 permanent staff. GBRI’s future plans include scaling its business model to several major cities: Dar es Salaam, and Dodoma. They also want to increase the crops they accept from farmers to include tomatoes, potatoes, onion, pineapples and mangoes.
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-with files from Beatrice Sawa/MEDA The Marketplace November December 2021
Showing Love to our lesser-paid neighbors Denver Institute for Faith & Work examines challenges facing hourly-paid laborers By Carla Foote
The Marketplace November December 2021
to provide for his family. When asked about his work, Rich says, “I want people to see what we are contributing. When you get in an accident you need someone to fix your car.” These unlikely connections — Zach and Dave, Rich and Jeff — are possible through a foundation of faith and intentionality, not because of any similarities in socioeconomic status. Such connection is rare in our communities. Hourly workers and professionals are often physically and socially isolated from each other. According to Pew Research, income inequality has grown over the past 50 years in the U.S., increasing the divide between lowincome hourly workers and professionals. Challenges Laborers Face While hourly workers are an important segment of the economy in the U.S. and Canada, they face challenges that can prevent them from self-sufficiency and flourishing. They feel the financial strain 16
of rising costs of housing and affordable childcare, food, fuel and utilities. Health care costs and availability also impact hourly workers in the U.S. At the same time, some sectors of the economy are having trouble hiring enough hourly workers to staff their operations. The panel convened by the Denver Institute on Faith & Work focused on these issues in urban centers in Colorado. Many of these same challenges are felt across North America. Panelists included
Photos by Josh Barrett/Courtesy of Denver Institute for Faith & Work
There is a divide between hourly workers and business owners. They may interact in a work setting, but often there is no natural social interaction between these two groups. I reflected on this gap as I was sitting in church one day and looked down the row. I saw Zach and Dave sitting next to each other. It struck me that there are very few places in our society where these two men, a welder and a CEO, are together in community. Jeff Haanen, founder of the Denver Institute for Faith and Work (DIFW), also addressed this gap between people in his organization’s recent panel discussion. He shared about his unlikely friendship with Rich, an hourly worker who paints cars at an auto body shop. Haanen shared Rich’s story as he kicked off a panel discussion attended by business leaders in Denver in mid-August 2021. The focus of the discussion was how to show love to the laborers in our city. Rich and Jeff met at church and developed a friendship. Rich is an artist and has given drawing lessons to Jeff’s daughter. Rich spent 20 years in prison and has carefully walked a narrow path since his release three years ago. He sees work as an opportunity
Jeff Haanen heads Denver Institute for Faith & Work
L-R Jeff Haanen, James Coleman, Julie Stone and J.J. Ament discuss challenges facing hourly paid workers.
people representing public policy, business, and the nonprofit sector. Julie Stone with Gary Community Ventures, a nonprofit focusing on public/private partnerships to solve societal issues, talked about how an understanding of hourly wage workers was part of her growing up experience. Her family owned several truck stops in Wyoming — 24/7 operations which depended on hourly workers. Her first “job” as a child was picking up trash
around a truck stop, because her family cared about providing a clean impression. Stone encouraged business leaders to see the lives of real people behind the labor component of their companies. Labor is not just a cost to be minimized in a returnon-investment calculation, she said. And she reminded us that it is very easy for people with stable, professional employment to ignore the needs of those families who are struggling in low-wage, hourly
Julie Stone grew up seeing the issues facing hourly workers. 17
jobs. Our faith is about seeing and showing compassion to people on the margins, who have less than we do. She challenged those in attendance to consider what real love for a worker looks like: “Should my radical love for my own children be any different from my radical love for my employees?” Sometimes the conversations about the challenges of hourly workers are over-simplified. Business owners might mention a lack of work ethic. Labor leaders might bemoan low wages. J. J. Ament, CEO of Metro Denver Economic Development Corporation, said, “We have to be willing to have complicated conversations. There are 1,000 reasons for labor shortages and the struggles of hourly workers to make ends meet.” Ament encouraged attendees to consider multiple layers to the challenges of hourly workers. He encouraged people to avoid taking a few individual stories about labor and using these stories to infer a trend. In his words, “The plural of an anecdote is not a fact.” He also emphasized that some employers are reconsidering job requirements to attract and retain hourly workers. People who have The Marketplace November December 2021
been in prison historically find themselves excluded from many jobs. Labor shortages have pushed employers in some sectors to be more open to applicants with a prison record. Also, employers are getting better at defining the skills needed for a job. In the past many jobs automatically required a college diploma, even if it wasn’t necessary for the work. This created an unnecessary barrier for workers. These adaptations in hiring are based on business realities, not necessarily a compassionate motivation. Such changes provide more opportunities for low-wage workers. Colorado State Senator James Coleman acknowledged that these complicated public policy issues will not be solved in isolation. Coleman asserted that we need collaboration from people who disagree, to come together to discuss solutions.
Labor is not just a cost to be minimized in a return-on-investment calculation — Julie Stone
He encouraged listening to laborers, who are not always part of public policy conversations. Our Response as Christians Love for neighbors is a clear call for Christians. However, the practical demonstration of love is not always clear in complicated economic and policy conversations. Respect for hourly workers and a
Practical steps to show love to hourly workers Jeff Haanen, founder of the Denver Institute for Faith and Work, offers these practical ideas for showing love to hourly paid workers. 1. Recognize the dignity of each person and their work. Make sure that people you encounter in the service sector feel seen and valued. Look a person in the eyes and thank them for their work. It is easy to get impatient when you wait for service at a short-staffed restaurant. The person who is serving you did show up to work today, so thank them. 2. Listen and learn. Take the time to be curious about someone’s real life. Don’t assume that you know the
challenges and joys people face in their daily work. As you build relationships with hourly workers, keep on learning. This stance of wanting to learn from and connect with people demonstrates active love for them. 3. Give power to hourly workers. This step of practical love builds on the previous two. As you recognize the dignity of each person, and listen and learn about their lives, you will realize that you don’t have all the solutions to the issues they face. If you are in a position of leadership as an employer, ask your workers for input. Involving people in the process shows respect for their ideas.
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For further reading and reflection: suggested readings https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2020/02/07/6-facts-about-economic-inequality-in-the-u-s/ Rerum Novarum: On Capital and Labor by Pope Leo XIII, 1891. This encyclical asserted that both employers and employees have rights and duties, and the church is the only way to bind together the classes. “God of the Second Shift: The theology of work conversation is thriving. Why are most workers missing from it?” By Jeff Haanen, September 20, 2018, Christianity Today https://www. christianitytoday.com/ct/2018/october/theology-of-work-god-of-second-shift.html The Good Jobs Strategy: How the Smartest Companies Invest in Employees to Lower Costs and Boost Profits by Zeynep Ton, New Harvest, 2014. The Marketplace November December 2021
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commitment to listen and learn is a good starting place. In his own journey to understand and love hourly workers, Haanen looked back at historical Christian teachings. He found that Catholic social teaching was more robust on this topic than his Protestant background. In the late 1800s industrial economies were grappling with social issues of fair wages, safe working conditions, and the rights to property. The rise of Marxist ideas was confronting capitalistic systems. Pope Leo XIII addressed these issues in 1891 in Rerum Novarum: On Capital and Labor. He wrote out of concern for the living and working conditions for urban laborers. The dignity of each person, created in God’s image, is a foundation of Pope Leo XIII’s teaching. Employers should respect workers’ dignity by giving them time off, safe conditions, and fair wages. He also asserted private ownership of property as a natural right. The Pope saw the role of the church as drawing together the classes. “Each needs the other: capital cannot do without labor, nor labor without capital. … There is no intermediary more powerful than religion (whereof the Church is the interpreter and guardian) in drawing the rich and the working class together, by reminding each of its duties to the other, and especially of the obligations of justice,” he wrote. This historical teaching of the Church emphasizes that the dignity of people should be the foundation for relationships. We are all created in the image of God, and our interactions should reflect that truth. We can show love towards hourly workers and business owners as we participate in daily economic activity in our communities.
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Soundbites
Keeping attention in the new era of hybrid presentations As many companies move towards having employees back in their offices at least part of the time, the need to share information with inperson and online audiences at the same time can pose challenges for presenters. Successfully pulling off these hybrid meetings will require some changes in thinking, Fast Company magazine suggests. In the old days, movement was linked to projecting power, so executives moved around a lot. A new perspective is that standing still shows authority, that balance demonstrates strength. Traditional slideshows, sometimes referred to by detractors as “death by PowerPoint,” all too often involved cramming as much information as possible into a single slide. (Those denselypacked slides gave little thought to either legibility or the reality that people cannot read and listen at the same time.) In the new reality, less is more, so one point per slide, or where possible a single image instead of charts, graphics, and words, is the way to keep people engaged.
Workplaces post-pandemic Preparing for future disruptions will be critically important for workplaces in coming years, a study by the United Nations Development Program suggests. The study, entitled The Changing Nature of Work: 30 signals to consider for a sustainable future, highlights a number of problems that intensified during the pandemic, and skills needed for ongoing success. Among its findings: • Changing demographics will require that more inclusive policies for women, older workers,
people with disabilities and other marginalized groups be implemented. • Remote work, fragmented teams and rising uncertainty will force managers to support and lead team members by demonstrating empathy and creating in-depth emotional bonding rather than managing using traditional rigid approaches. • Preparedness for uncertainty and readiness to embrace it will become a top priority. • According to Accenture, 70 percent of the value created over the next decade — estimated at more than $100 trillion — will be based on digitally enabled business models. • Sixty five percent of children entering primary school today will work in new job types that don’t yet exist. • The future of work will need creativity, a sense of teamwork and an entrepreneurial mindset.
Commercial meat alternatives are too processed and not healthy enough for Chipotle, containing ingredients the chain prefers not to see in its restaurants, the story said.
Pass on pea protein
Roadblocks to a cleaner power grid?
For all of the hype around plantbased burgers and sausages, fast food chains in the U.S. are not convinced of broad consumer demand, Bloomberg Businessweek reports. Orders for the pea or soy protein filled products have flatlined or dropped in the past year, even as beef burger orders climbed double digits. Plant-based products are selling better in grocery stores, as people are more willing to try new things in their own kitchens than at the drive-through window. But the Chipolte Mexican Grill chain has started making its own meat substitute, bypassing the two biggest players in this space, Beyond and Impossible. 19
Pandemic hammers Nigerian employment One in five full-time workers at formal and informal businesses in Nigeria lost their jobs in 2020, a United Nations Development Program survey has found. The study, conducted with the Nigerian Bureau of Statistics, looked at almost 3,000 businesses in every state of the nation to gauge pandemic impacts during the second half of last year. The vast majority of businesses in all sectors reported revenue declines during that time frame. The most recently published official statistics put Nigerian unemployment at 33 percent, the third worst in Africa.
Shifts to green energy may bypass low-income and minority-occupied neighborhoods in the U.S., Wired magazine reports. Recent legislation in California will force builders to install solar panels and battery storage in commercial and high-rise residential construction. The law is part of efforts to reduce use of fossil fuels in the energy grid. But the distribution grid in some neighborhoods is not able to accept the electricity generated by solar panels. The problem stems from the way the grid has been traditionally built out — one way, to send power to homes and businesses. Upgrades can take years to finish.
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The Marketplace November December 2021
Wisdom-Based Business: Participating in the Kingdom By Hannah Stolze and Jenna Watson Perhaps you picture your work in the marketplace as funding the kingdom. Kind of like Paul’s tentmaking — it’s there on the side to fuel the real kingdom work. I used to think that way, too. But after many years of researching, teaching, and leading in the marketplace, I have become convinced that many are called to the marketplace not only to fund the work of the kingdom, but to further the kingdom in wise, innovative ways. In Chapter 12 of my book Wisdom-Based Business (Zondervan, 2021), I consider how business can have kingdom impact beyond just profitability and financial stewardship. I take a look at the Tom’s of Maine business model as an example of innovative entrepreneurship that is profitable and successful while acting with social and environmental responsibility, and is ultimately grounded in the Christian faith of its founders, Kate and Tom Chappell. Beginning as a small family-owned business selling laundry soap, shampoo, and toothpaste, Tom’s soon caught the attention of larger corporations like Colgate because of the ethical, sustainable business model that demonstrated true care for all stakeholders. Tom and Kate Chappell didn’t just let their Christian faith inspire their business; they let it inform it, making wise business decisions in light of eternal realities. Tom’s of Maine delivered value to the customer through quality, all-natural products, after The Marketplace November December 2021
extensive research into their products’ safety and efficacy. They sourced from ethical suppliers and were completely transparent about all ingredients, packaging, and products. While conforming to all regulations and respecting their professional partners, they also prioritized giving a percentage of their profits back into the community. Though the business occasionally took short-term cuts in profit to maintain these high standards, Tom Chappell made these decisions based on their long-term — even eternal — outcomes. This way of doing business caught the eye of Colgate, who purchased Tom’s of Maine in 2006. Because Colgate and Tom’s found value alignment despite their difference in size and culture, the partnership was successful. Colgate tapped into the natural products market where Tom’s had established a following, while Tom’s benefited from Colgate’s brand familiarity, marketing channels, and capital. Recognizing the unique culture and innovation of Tom’s of Maine, Colgate was careful to let Tom’s maintain the values and systems that had brought them such success. Tom’s of Maine brought kingdom values into Colgate. 20
Did Tom Chappell see his Christian calling as just fundraising for the church? Were his innovative business instincts only in service of profit and growth? Though profitable revenue growth was necessary for Tom’s success and enabled them to give back to their community, Tom Chappell knew that profit wasn’t the organization’s only goal. As he stated in a New York Times article, “God and Toothpaste,” “My responsibility is to use my gifts in service to God’s work. I am ministering — and I am doing it in the marketplace, not in the church, because I understand the marketplace better than the church”. Everything about Tom’s of Maine — mission, strategy, sourcing, products — was different because Tom and Kate Chappell saw their business as kingdom work. The Tom’s of Maine story can remind us of some truths about business in service to God. First, it reminds us that for-profit organizations can have incredible kingdom impact by driving quality of life for all stakeholders. Rather than promote consumerism and unhealthy lifestyle choices, Tom’s of Maine provides products that increase the well-being of its customers, while being profitable
enough to care well for its employees, stakeholders, and community. This type of business model inspired the transformative consumer research (TCR) movement that considers how business can promote individual and collective wellHannah Stolze being. That sounds like kingdom work to me. We can also be reminded of the importance of biblical wisdom in making business decisions. One of the prophetic pillars of transformative consumer research is Practical Wisdom, which asserts that more knowledge doesn’t lead to transformative change, but wisdom in applying that knowledge does. I want to take that a step further. Wheaton College
Center for Faith & Innovation members have an opportunity to cultivate not just practical wisdom, but divine wisdom. James 1:5 promises that, “If you need wisdom, ask our generous God, and he will give it to you. He will not rebuke you for asking." I’m passionate about wisdom-based business — see my book for lots more on that. Finally, the Tom’s of Maine story is a reminder that business conducted in light of eternity leads to better long-term outcomes and greater kingdom impact. Because Tom Chappell saw his business as a vessel of kingdom values and a witness to larger corporations like
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Colgate, he made wise but difficult decisions to protect the integrity of his company and hold true to his values. This was ultimately more profitable (Tom’s of Maine is now a $100 million company). It also participated in the kingdom of God that Jesus has already begun on this earth. Business doesn’t just fund kingdom work. It participates in the kingdom, here and now.
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This piece originally appeared as a blog on the Wheaton College Center for Faith & Innovation, On Vocation website. Hannah J Stolze, Ph.D, is an associate professor of supply chain management and director of the Center for Transformative Sales & Supply Chain Leadership at Lipscomb University as well as executive director of the Wheaton College Center for Faith & Innovation and a visiting professor of core studies in business at Wheaton College. Jenna Watson (Wheaton College Graduate ’21, BA – English) was a 2020-2021 Innovation Scholar and writing intern for the Wheaton College, Center for Faith & Innovation.
The Marketplace November December 2021
Books in brief
One woman’s work for justice in the Congo Cradling Abundance. One African Christian’s story of empowering Women and fighting systemic poverty by Monique Misenga Nogoie Mkuna with Elsie Tshimunyi McKee ((IVP Academic, 2021, 240 pages, $26 US) The life story of Mama Monique, as Monique Misenga Ngoie Mukuna is called in this amazing tale, could make a compelling movie. A woman whose father had the wisdom to send her to university at a time when girls were treated as little better than chattel in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Coming home for the summer, she risked her life by successfully facing down and shaming soldier thugs who were determined to rob the truck on which she and others were riding. Mama Monique showed similar courage and determination as she faced numerous life challenges and tragedies, while maintaining her commitment to service and Christian faith. Twice widowed, she lost her first child not long after her first husband died. She wisely rebuffed entreaties to go to work for dictator President Mobutu, later learning that others who accepted were killed. In a society where women in leadership were rare, she worked as a farmer, tailor, teacher, school principal, successful businesswoman, social activist and more. She served her church at the local, regional, and international levels, founded a non-profit that provides education and job training for many women and served as reluctant matriarch for her extended family. She mediated many conflicts, raising nine children along the way. The book, written by her friend Elsie McKee, a professor at Princeton Theological Seminary, is far from an easy read. It bogs down in Congo’s sordid history and church politics The Marketplace November December 2021
along the way but is well worth buying and pondering. -MS
Encouragement for women in leadership Ready to Rise: Own Your Voice, Gather Your Community, Step into Your Influence by Jo Saxton (Waterbrook, 2020 224pp, $16.99 US) “This is your path, your influence, your leadership journey, so there is no prescriptive blueprint,” writes author and leadership coach Jo Saxton. But to empower women along the way, Ready to Rise offers plenty of inspiration and practical tools to chart their course forward. Saxton shares how she came to develop her own voice, from firmly telling herself, “I’m not a leader” to discovering that yes, “I was made for this” — made to use the gifts that God had given her, made to be a channel of God’s goodness and 22
transforming power. As she shares her story and the experiences of other women, she encourages readers to find their own voices and to “say yes to who you are.” Part of that yes means acknowledging our weaknesses, recognizing our wounds, and allowing God to heal us. As Saxton points out, Jesus carefully washed his disciples’ feet and laid down his life before commissioning them as his witnesses. So God also draws near to us, cares for us, and commissions us to make a difference in our world. Practical how-tos include how to grow your grit and what to do when grit is not enough, how to grow a community of support that includes both people who help to ground you and people who help you take flight. Reading Ready to Rise is like having your own leadership coach in a book, one that understands the challenges of women in leadership, asks good questions, and offers good support along the way. — April Yamasaki
Books in brief Approaching differences as a growth opportunity The Space Between Us: Conversations about Transforming Conflict by Betty Pries (Herald Press, 2021, 232 pages, $16.99 US). For some people, conflict is to be avoided at all costs. Others view disagreements as situations they can bulldoze their way through, oblivious to resulting relational carnage. In The Space Between Us, Betty Pries asks readers to recognize the inevitability of conflict and view disagreements as
a route to personal growth. That growth and resulting improved resilience come at a cost however: we need to face and heal our own emotional landscape. The book is both extremely helpful and difficult, as it calls us to both recognize personal pain and take “a hard look at our own complicity in the conflicts in which we have participated — or the conflicts we have seemingly avoided.” Pries has spent more than a quarter century coaching, mediating, and consulting. That wealth of wisdom and experience shows through in
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her book. She skillfully commends using mindfulness, self-awareness, and deep listening as tools for greater understanding and dealing with disagreements. Practicing presence to become aware of what makes us anxious, understanding how to turn people problems into situation problems and learning to live in our deeper selves rather than our defended (false) selves are disciplines she calls us to embrace. Praying for both compassion and for healthy boundaries is part of Pries’ prescription for coping with conflict. She provides helpful insights on the nature of forgiveness and the elements of a good apology. Noting that what we resist we entrench, she suggests allowing and accepting our pain, then releasing it and resting “in God, in self-compassion, or both.”
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The Marketplace November December 2021
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