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When your mother tells you to “eat your fruits and vegetables”—you probably don’t consider black sapote, yuca root, or anona jam.
But as the students in a recent U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) Managing Market Information class learned, these products—along with more familiar foods like pineapples, tomatoes, and broccoli—offer real opportunities for growth and success to farmers in Latin America. As part of the course, which is directly linked with the John Ogonowski Farmer-to-Framer (FTF) program, students in the class divided into nine teams to conduct research on an array of familiar and unfamiliar produce commodities. Their task was to examine and analyze current and future market opportunities that could drive agricultural expansion as well as expand food processing and distribution activities. “From the start, the students knew that their research would extend outside the classroom and into the real word,” said Cecilia Alvarez, assistant professor in the College of Business Administration’s Marketing Department. “It wasn’t just another class; it was a commitment. And I think the students found that aspect of their course work very motivating.” “Knowing that I was doing something for real people make me work that much harder. I could just imagine the workers in Latin America that could ultimately benefit from my research,” said Irene Rojas (BA ’05), a student in the class who currently is pursuing her BBA in marketing.
Barbara Bacariza (BBA ’06) felt much the same way. “The research was definitely challenging, but the fact that our work was going to be put to good use encouraged us to dig deeper to find as much information as possible on the products,” she said. According to Carmen Algeciras, (MIB ’03, BA ’01), director, USAID Farmer-to-Farmer program in the college, the finished reports were well received by other USAID Farmer-to-Framer program participants. “I teamed with Alvarez as a teaching assistant for this class, so I had the chance to observe firsthand how hard the students worked,” Algeciras said. “They really did an excellent job in a short amount of time. We shared the final reports with our USAID partners and they greatly appreciated the effort and quality of the results.”
Students fine-tuned their research skills. “The class provided an excellent opportunity to teach the importance of exploring all avenues of information when conducting market research,” Alvarez said. “The Internet is a good starting point, but I also required students to conduct interviews with local agricultural experts who could speak from personal experience.” Armed with data from multiple sources, the students were better able to draw their own conclusions, make their own recommendations, and create more useful reports. “This class really opened my mind about how to approach market research,” said Hector Garcia, a marketing major who expects to graduate next spring. “I can now see the value of conducting personal interviews to learn from the experiences of others and to get a true feel for the realities of a given marketplace.” Alvarez rewards excellence.
At the conclusion of the USAID Managing Market Information course, Alvarez awarded a “completion diploma” to the students who participated in the three projects that earned the highest final grades. Special recognition went to: First Place: Processed fruit report (mango jelly, mango chutney, anona jam) Second Place: Vegetables report (broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, beets) Third Place: Processed fruit report (yam bean brine, mombin brine, jocote jam and jelly, frozen jocote) Funded by USAID, the Farmer-to-Farmer program falls under the umbrella of the college’s Knight Ridder Center for Excellence in Management and the Eugenio Pino and Family Global Entrepreneurship Center. To learn more about the program, visit http://usaid.fiu.edu. For more details about USAID market research courses, contact Carmen Algeciras, program director, at 305-348-0399 or algecira@fiu.edu.
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