Exploration
Definitions of Enterprise Viability and Right Livelihood
In our daily lives, we are often challenged to prioritize and re-prioritize our responsibilities and values. While our values might evolve over time, they tend to be stable, consistent guideposts that help us determine how we approach all aspects of our lives including our relationships, our work, and the time we dedicate to various activities. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the connection between our values and our livelihoods is often in tension.
The idea of “right livelihoods” embodies the principle that each person should follow an honest occupation, which fully respects other people and the natural world. This concept is brought to life through the indigenous way of “El Buen Vivir,” which you can read about in the article below. Does this concept sound familiar to you, even if you might have a different name for it?
In practice, we usually think of livelihood as someone’s occupation; in almost every corner of the world, we secure our livelihoods through work. But as emerging evidence suggests, and as many of us have likely known or suspected for much longer, there is sometimes a disparity between our personal values or ideas of a good life and the strategies that we use to maintain our livelihoods or uphold our values. In other words, sometimes sticking to our values goes against what we think we need to do to make a good (financial) living. This is particularly relevant for farmers. In this course, we acknowledge the relevance of positioning ‘right livelihoods’ as part of the process of evaluating the viability of a farm business. However, we take a pragmatic approach, focusing on the tools that can guide this process and help measure progress, in order to equip learners with the tools that contribute to viable agricultural businesses.
E. F. Schumacher, an influential 20th century economist, was attuned to the tension between personal values and livelihood strategies, but also knew that we needed balance in order to hold true to our values and make an honest living. We typically attribute the concept of “right livelihood” to him, which he explored in his 1973 book Small is Beautiful. Read the following excerpt titled “Buddhist Economics” for an introduction to the idea of right livelihood – and consequently, an introduction to the course. Note that you don’t need to be a Buddhist to appreciate and apply to ideas in the chapter – in fact, Schumacher was a practicing Catholic later in life. His main point is the idea of balance. And as Schumacher addresses machines, industrialization, consumption, and localism, think about how they apply to agriculture in particular. What do these ideas mean for your own enterprise? What do his ideas mean in the context of enterprise viability and right livelihood?
Also note that the following PDF includes chapter five from the book. While it’s certainly valuable and relevant, you don’t need to read it; we’ll just focus on chapter four for now. Chapter five goes deeper into questions of scale, place, and community introduced in chapter four.
Read Chapter 4: Buddhist Economics from Small is Beautiful (1973)
In the spirit of finding a viable middle path, along the journey of this course, we will encourage you to bring your values to the process of planning your livelihood, in this case an agroecological farm business.
Case Study: Maati-Paani-Asha Centre
Few people understand the importance of balancing enterprise viability with right livelihood better than the folks at the Maati Paani Asha Center, whom we’re lucky enough to call our EcoGather partners. Operating in Umarkhed in the Indian State of Maharashtra, their work focuses on farming methods that build resilience in the face of farmer suicides. There’s a close connection between strong business practices and the lives the farmers are able to lead, and a connection between economic instability and crisis. Watch the beginning of this Video with Dr. Tarak Kate from the Maati Paani Asha Center until about the 15:30 mark, in which he explains his own background, how the crisis unfolded, and how seeing farms as systems can create the sort of resilient and viable agroecologial enterprises we strive for. Notice a couple themes that come up in the video and will remain important in this course, including the importance of community relationships, an ecological approach to managing challenges like pests, the challenges that different markets present, and the balancing act required to maintain profitability.
To close out this section, we would like to share an interview with Glenis Padilla from our partner organization Plenitud PR. In this interview, Glenis walks us through the story of how Plenitud was born, how it has evolved, and how they continue to lead through values even as their organization incorporates business strategies in their development process. Note that we held the interview in Spanish, and are also linking the English transcript of the conversation below.