NSYSU supports small farmers for social innovation and sustainable agriculture
2021-03-15
(Report by student journalist) Buy fruit and support small farmers! Southern Taiwan Interdisciplinary Center for Innovative Technologies (STICIT) at National Sun Yat-sen University established a new brand – Farming International, which focuses on small and medium agricultural social enterprises: it cooperates with farmers using eco-friendly farming techniques and sells their products directly through its website. Farming International returns its profits to local farmers at a fixed rate to achieve a win-win situation for the producers, consumers, and the natural environment.
The idea of Farming International originated from the USR (university social responsibility) project of STICIT – Establishing a Rural E-Commerce Platform Ecosystem – Promoting the Engagement and New Technology of Rural Communities. The PI of the project and Director of STICIT Professor Jer-Her Wu said that with a social enterprise established, he hopes that the innovative farming sector can be sustainable after the project ends. Farming International mostly cooperates with small farmers who have ideas, good production and quality, but no resources, channel, or brand. Since the purchase price of small farmers is always deducted from the final sale price and the profit is mostly divided by the wholesalers and distributors, the team of Farming International introduced the concept of disintermediation and established an online sales platform for small farmers, hoping to improve the situation of farmers at the bottom of the agricultural sector.
Hsing-Fen Lu, a research assistant in charge of product listing and information processing at STICIT explained that the team members visit each partnering farmer to make sure that they use organic and eco-friendly farming methods, and harvest their produce fresh from the field only after receiving an order, to exercise strict control over the quality of fruits sold to customers. Up to 70% of the company's shares are in the hands of small farmers to make sure that the operation and future development of the social enterprise is in their interest. In addition, the company invests its earnings in agricultural areas, purchasing processing equipment or fruit sorters for various fruits.
Until nowadays, Farming International has tied collaboration with 150 farmers and has been selling as many as 26 different fruits and is working with 17 third-party partners – the government, industry, and universities, to form industrial clusters in 13 areas in southern Taiwan (Tainan, Kaohsiung, and Pingtung counties). Among its customers are 80 enterprises, 32 group buyers, and 754 individual consumers. Farming International also organizes social activities, such as an eco-friendly farming tour for the Mid-Autumn Festival for the participants to learn about the ecology behind the pomelo and promote the concept of rural innovation and public welfare transformation.
At present, although most of its customers are big companies, Farming International also provides group purchase services to suit the needs of NSYSU students and teachers, who can place an order through Line messaging app and pick up the fruits on campus. Ting-Wei Huang, a sophomore in the Department of Political Economy at NSYSU, was invited to join a group purchase by a friend. She not only appreciated the convenience of the purchasing process as she does not have time to go shopping off-campus nor is very good at picking fruit, but also felt happy to support small farmers.
(Edited by Public Affairs Division)
(Report by student journalist) Buy fruit and support small farmers! Southern Taiwan Interdisciplinary Center for Innovative Technologies (STICIT) at National Sun Yat-sen University established a new brand – Farming International, which focuses on small and medium agricultural social enterprises: it cooperates with farmers using eco-friendly farming techniques and sells their products directly through its website. Farming International returns its profits to local farmers at a fixed rate to achieve a win-win situation for the producers, consumers, and the natural environment.
The idea of Farming International originated from the USR (university social responsibility) project of STICIT – Establishing a Rural E-Commerce Platform Ecosystem – Promoting the Engagement and New Technology of Rural Communities. The PI of the project and Director of STICIT Professor Jer-Her Wu said that with a social enterprise established, he hopes that the innovative farming sector can be sustainable after the project ends. Farming International mostly cooperates with small farmers who have ideas, good production and quality, but no resources, channel, or brand. Since the purchase price of small farmers is always deducted from the final sale price and the profit is mostly divided by the wholesalers and distributors, the team of Farming International introduced the concept of disintermediation and established an online sales platform for small farmers, hoping to improve the situation of farmers at the bottom of the agricultural sector.
Hsing-Fen Lu, a research assistant in charge of product listing and information processing at STICIT explained that the team members visit each partnering farmer to make sure that they use organic and eco-friendly farming methods, and harvest their produce fresh from the field only after receiving an order, to exercise strict control over the quality of fruits sold to customers. Up to 70% of the company's shares are in the hands of small farmers to make sure that the operation and future development of the social enterprise is in their interest. In addition, the company invests its earnings in agricultural areas, purchasing processing equipment or fruit sorters for various fruits.
Until nowadays, Farming International has tied collaboration with 150 farmers and has been selling as many as 26 different fruits and is working with 17 third-party partners – the government, industry, and universities, to form industrial clusters in 13 areas in southern Taiwan (Tainan, Kaohsiung, and Pingtung counties). Among its customers are 80 enterprises, 32 group buyers, and 754 individual consumers. Farming International also organizes social activities, such as an eco-friendly farming tour for the Mid-Autumn Festival for the participants to learn about the ecology behind the pomelo and promote the concept of rural innovation and public welfare transformation.
At present, although most of its customers are big companies, Farming International also provides group purchase services to suit the needs of NSYSU students and teachers, who can place an order through Line messaging app and pick up the fruits on campus. Ting-Wei Huang, a sophomore in the Department of Political Economy at NSYSU, was invited to join a group purchase by a friend. She not only appreciated the convenience of the purchasing process as she does not have time to go shopping off-campus nor is very good at picking fruit, but also felt happy to support small farmers.
(Edited by Public Affairs Division)
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