Business school markets sustainability
"Trade not aid" is the slogan of Edun LIVE, a clothing line created by Bono and his wife. Last month, Edun LIVE and the Farmer School of Business at Miami University in Ohio came together to form "Edun LIVE on campus." This project links T-shirt manufactures in Sub-Saharan Africa with universities nationwide willing to engage in an effort to substitute traditional aid to Africa with employment creation. Miami Student, the school's newspaper, writes:
"We wanted to start this pilot program and penetrate the college market," said senior Andy Mitchelides, president of the Center for Social Entrepreneurship. "Basically we wanted to put together a 'cookbook for success' that could be used by other schools."
More from FT:
[T-shirts] sold for $10-$15 each and in total the students sold more than 1,500 T-shirts. Even though the school pays a premium for the blank T-shirts, the student business still manages to make a profit.
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Edun LIVE is a fantastic idea. It fits right along with the saying, "Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a man how to fish and you feed him for a lifetime." Job creation will do a lot more to improve the economic situation in Africa. Sometimes the governments don't even allow foreign aid to go to the citizens but they keep it for themselves.
Juan Rodriguez
Editor, JustJobs.com
Posted by: JustJobs editor | Mar 6, 2007 5:15:24 PM
Alas, management, including business management, has been totally ignored by development economists, policy-makers and aid officials. See our blog: www.mercnetwork.org/blog for a brief essay on the subject.
Posted by: Guy Pfeffermann | Jun 4, 2007 11:20:28 AM
'Alas, management, including business management, has been totally ignored by development economists, policy-makers and aid officials.' - good covering, guys! Moreover, I think that once everybody realizes the mistakes, they will be able to go on since the idea is really good.
Posted by: Andy, school teacher | Jun 14, 2007 7:17:38 AM
Unfortunately, paying more for a product than you otherwise would, simply to help those from whom you are buying that product, is aid disguised as trade, and is not sustainable. Jobs are not created by the market, but by goodwill, and will only last as long as the goodwill does.
Posted by: Audra | Jun 26, 2007 4:29:19 PM