Creative Entrepreneurship in
La Tourney Vieux Fort
By
George Alexander
In
the Production of Brooms
“Nothing is Wasted”
By Forest Officer Margaret Ishmael Severin
April 2011
On
a visit to Mr. George Alexander’s farm in La –Tourney Vieux Fort late last year
in 2010, I encountered a special farmer- Mr. George Alexander. Mr. Alexander is years fifty five (55) years old
and works with his wife. Studying his livelihood revealed that he has the skill to make Latanye brooms,
has easy access to and owns land and he has his business savviness using simple
yet intelligent and practical approaches
to diversify his income portfolio within and away from broom making that
result sustainable production. The
following is a list of strategies noted by Mr. Alexander that makes his model
of production successful.
Strategy 1: Diversification of the Types of Brooms
for sale to the public
Firstly, Mr. Alexander is a broom
producer. But, he makes eight (8) different
kinds of brooms (See Figure 1, 2 and 3) namely:
-
Two
types of house brooms (1.5 metres long)
-
One
for children (0.6 to 0 .9 metres long)
-
Three
types of small brooms (0.4 to .08 metres long)
-
One
ceiling broom (3 to 4 metres long)
-
One
broom for the yard using black plastic strips (1.5 metres long)
Figure
1.Three types of Small Latanye brooms Figure
2 Three types of Large Brooms
Figure 3 Details of the Dimensions of Small (Mini)
Brooms
The highest prices are for the ceiling broom ($25),
followed by the long brooms that are 1.5 metres long ($15 and $10), the
children’s brooms ($6) and the small brooms ($1 to $5) (See Table 1)
Table 1 Summary of the
Types and Corresponding Prices for Brooms produced by George
Alexander
Type of Broom
|
Price
|
Two
types of house brooms
(1.5
metres long)
|
$10.00
|
One
for children
(0.6
to 0 .9 metres long)
|
$6.00
|
Three
types of small brooms
(0.4
to .08 metres long)
|
$1- $5.00
|
One
ceiling broom
(3 to 4 metres long)
|
$25
|
One
broom with black plastic strips
(1.5 metres long)
|
$15.00
|
Strategy 2: Optimizing the use of Materials in the
Production Cycle
According
to Mr. .Alexander, in the production cycle for brooms “nothing is wasted”. The excess portions of longer Latanye leaves
are used to make children’s brooms (See Figure 4a. and 4 b.), dust brooms and
small (mini) brooms. In this way, in
terms of productivity, he can make thirty (30) small brooms in two days.
Figure
4 a. Figure
4b.
Figure 4a. and 4b. Illustration of the Latanye broom
produced from the Excess of larger leaves
Further,
his wife is involved in using the excess pieces sticks of the broom handle to
make charcoal (See Figure 5). He uses Bwa Madanm (Guettarda Scabra) as the stick of the broom.
Figure
5 Excess Pieces of Sticks from Broom Making that is targeted for Charcoal
Production
Strategy 3: Diversification of the Utility of Brooms
One
limitation of the local Latanye broom is its restrictions to in effectiveness
and durability when it gets wet. Mr.
Alexander also uses a black plastic material to make a broom with that has
durability and adaptability for cleaning wet cleaning on a normal day he makes
10 brooms from this material. He sells one broom at $15.00 for one (See Table 1
and Figure 6a and 6b).
Figure 6 a Figure
6.b
Figure 6 a. and 6b.
Photos of the Plastic material used to make the broom and the assembled
Broom
Strategy
4: Timely Procurement of Materials and Sustainability in Production of
Latanye Leaves
In the short term his strategy for obtaining Latanye
leaves is to purchase the leaves. Mr.
Alexander purchases his leaves from Latanye farmers at the cost of $0.75 for
one leaf. Mr. Alexander plans to source leaves from his Latanye plantation in
the medium to long term. In this regard
the Forestry Department has provided 250 Latanye plants and technical
assistance to facilitate the establishment of a mini Latanye plantation. But, Mr. Alexander has also embarked on
germination of seeds and potting them for the purposes of expansion of his
Latanye plantation (See Figure 7).
Figure 7 Potted Latanye Plants that Prepared by the Farmer
Strategy 5: Improving Nutrition and Sustainability
of Established Latanye Plantation
Mr. Alexander also incorporates dried animal
manure from his farm into the land preparation and around the Latanye plants
(See Figure 8). This is done with a view
for water retention in the dry season and for improved nutrition for the
Latanye plants.
Figure 8 Latanye Plants
with dried animal manure incorporated into soil
Strategy
6: Inventory Management to maintain quality, ensure availability and supply of
brooms
Mr. Alexander also stores brooms to
ensure quality, availability and continuous supply of brooms based on
demand.
Figure 9
Dry Area for the Storage of Brooms
Summary of Strategies Used By Mr. George Alexander
-
Strategy
1: Diversification of the Types of Brooms for sale to the public
-
Strategy
2: Optimizing the use of Materials
-
Strategy
3: Diversification of the Utility of Brooms
-
Strategy
4: Timely Procurement of Materials and Sustainability in Production of Latanye
Leaves
-
Strategy
5: Improving Nutrition and Sustainability of the Established Latanye Plantation
-
Strategy
6: Inventory Management to maintain Quality and ensure Availability and
Supply of Brooms
Recommendations
-
Use
participatory methods with Mr. Alexander, the Bureau of Standards, the Ministry
of Commerce and the Marketing Unit of the Ministry of Agriculture, Lands,
Forestry and Fisheries, The Ministry of Social Transformation, the Ministry of
Tourism and St. Lucia Social Development Fund (SSDF), James Belgrave Micro Enterprise Development Limited (BELFund),
Credit Union, the St. Lucia Development Bank, the Inter American Institute for
Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA) to determine and provide the extent of technical and financial assistance needed to enhance the capacity in the system
of production, including quality of
materials used and the presentation of products to attract sale of products to more
affluent consumers-especially tourists.
The ultimate goal is to increase the revenue for Mr. Alexander.
-
Share
the experiences of Mr. Alexander with other Latanye Farmers, school children and
prospective handicraft personnel growing plants in similar production systems.