DOREEN MASHU: OK.
My name Doreen.
I just graduated as
a Sloan Fellow 2018.
I came here from Zimbabwe,
and I did an independent study
with Anjali Sastry.
So I had 10 years
work experience
in accounting and finance
before I came to Sloan.
And I had this passion
for agriculture
that stemmed from growing
up in Zimbabwe with parents
that were farmers.
So I had done quite a bit
of research personally
on agriculture everywhere
that I had worked.
And even though I was
working in finance,
I tried to make sure that
I did some agriculture
work, whether it was mergers
and acquisitions or whatever.
I tried to make sure that
I infused agriculture
into my work.
So when I got here, I wanted
to formalize this passion
and do a bit more in-depth
analysis, in-depth research
on this sector and what
I wanted to contribute
to it after graduation.
So I did an independent
study titled
Innovations Across the
Agriculture Value Chain--
An Opportunity for
Savvy Entrepreneurs,
because I want to be an
entrepreneur in this sector.
So the independent
study involved
researching the current value
chain, or the traditional value
chain as it is, and
then interviewing
different stakeholders to
figure out where opportunities
are for innovation.
And that's what I
worked on with Anjali.
So I started out
with some questions
that I wanted to answer, or some
hypotheses, and the main one
was the fact that there
is a big opportunity
to do value addition.
And so to move farmers from
the traditional farming
and raw material production
to actual processing of items,
of consumer goods, whether it's
juice or personal care items.
Anything that can be produced
from excess agricultural
produce.
So my hypothesis was that
everybody on the table
would agree with the statement,
that that is the only way
to move farmers or
rural communities
from poverty to prosperity.
And that's where most
of the investments
should be going forward.
So I started with that
question, and so when
I interviewed stakeholders,
I interviewed farmers.
I interviewed business people.
I interviewed development
organizations.
And asked questions that
questioned or poked on that
hypothesis, or supported it.
And the response was
actually what I expected,
which is it's true
that that is where
everybody thinks that
the investment should
be focused on.
It's just a matter of changing
some existing mental models
that keep both farmers and
investors in this sector stuck
in and doing things as
they've always been done.
I looked at all the things
that I was interested in,
things that I was
passionate about,
but that I wasn't necessarily
addressing through my MBA
classes at Sloan.
And so agriculture stood out.
And then within
agriculture I looked
at what was related
to my startup, which
is what I'm hoping to work
on now that I've graduated.
And so it was easy to
narrow down a topic,
because I wanted
something that was
aligned with my startup
and my interests.
Managing the work and myself
was probably the most difficult.
I think, like I
said, because I had
done some research on the
topic without really having
any plans of using
it in any formal way,
I underestimated the time it
would take to actually come up
with something meaningful.
And I like to talk--
I'm a people person.
So I enjoyed the
interviewing part,
and I kept gathering information
and gathering information,
and talking to people more than
the people I had on my list.
But then when it came
to gathering the insight
and writing, what I had
done and why I had done it
and what the next steps
are, it was of difficult.
And also I had a
full course load,
because I spent all of my
IAP doing this research.
And so I didn't take any
other classes or any units
that I needed
towards graduation.
So in the spring,
everything was due.
The independent study, all
the courses, and all of that.
So it was difficult, but
I worked with Anjali a lot
in trying to figure out how
I needed to craft the paper.
And so we did a few
iterations of that.
She actually is very hands-on.
So she'll take
positive notes write--
this first section could
be this, do you agree?
What are you trying
to get from that?
So she pushed me
a bit and ask me
questions that helped me figure
out the structure of the paper.
And also the time I would
spend on each section,
and what was more important
and what was less important.
And how I can show
that I actually
did the work, because
doing the work
and actually reporting the
work is quite different.
But in the end, it worked,
definitely with Anjali's help,
and working extra hours.
So I think this experience
was interesting for me,
because I ended up
using frameworks
in the independent study that
I think are unique to Sloan.
So for example, I used systems
thinking, which is obviously
a big thing here at Sloan.
And also things
around sustainability
and sustainability-oriented
innovation, which MIT
is a champion in.
So I think that being in
this environment helped
with the framework
I was going to use
and the way I was
writing this paper.
Entrepreneurship
is also big at MIT,
so that's why I
even wanted to be
an entrepreneur after a
10-year career in finance.
So I think all of those
things went together
to help me produce
this independent study.
I do think, however, it's just--
yes, for me it was MIT,
but for anyone else
it could be anything, right?
It's just a matter
of figuring out
what you have in
your own ecosystem,
and then using that
to your advantage.
Also, in addition to
being a Sloan Fellow,
I'm a Legatum fellow, which is--
Legatum is a center here
at MIT for entrepreneurship
and development.
And it supports 20
Fellows per year
that wants to work
in the developing
world after graduation.
So it's everybody from PhDs in
engineering to undergraduates.
And so I came here
through a scholarship
from the Legatum foundation.
So I knew coming
in that I wanted
to be an entrepreneur in the
developing world after Sloan.
And my startup idea
is in agriculture,
so it's another part of what
created this independent study.
I knew some people
that I interviewed--
some stakeholders that I
interviewed through Legatum,
and then approaching
them as a Legatum Fellow,
it made sense that I was
doing this agriculture paper.
So it helped me talk to people
that I probably would have
a hard time reaching out to.
Anjali also brought in
her contacts for people
that I needed to interview,
so that was helpful as well.
And the name MIT was
helpful as well, so
to link back to the
ecosystem, right?
So reaching out to
someone and saying, hey,
I'm a student at
MIT and I'm studying
this topic was, I think,
helpful for people
to open up their doors
and resources and such.
I just came from a conference
last week after graduation.
I went straight to a
conference at the World Bank,
and I think everybody's
questioning this idea of
is technology a good solution?
And if so, how should
we be using it,
and how do we really get these
rural communities to prosper?
And there's a lot actually in
between farming seasons, right?
So a farming season could
be just three months,
and then you add the
preparation time, which
is another couple of months.
And then farmers are
going from cycle to cycle,
and their conditions are
not really improving.
So people are
questioning why that
is happening, and we what we
need to do more of, or less of.
So I think it's an
exciting sector,
because I think that
the whole world is
worried about food security.
The whole world is worried
about climate change,
which is linked to agriculture.
So I think it's a hot topic.
It's just people need to
figure out-- everybody needs
to be on board in
terms of figuring out
what needs to be done.
Because on one hand,
you have people
that are investing in
more production of food
so that we have food
security, but then is
that food distributed equally?
That remains to be seen.
And then on the
other hand, there's
all this talk about
climate change
and what farmers should
be doing or not be doing,
and there are all these
technologies that people
are coming up with, but
are they being co-created
with the communities?
Probably not.
So uptake of those technologies
is slower than people think.
So there are all of these
topics, all of these loose ends
that need to be figured out.
And I think that's why it's
exciting for me to be in,
and hopefully I can figure
out a small part of it.
