An Allegorical series of blogs that covers a range of topics from international currencies to rural development in an engaging free flowing manner.

1. GSR Blog Special Series #1: A Tale of Two Cedis
Part Six – Everyone Loves an Underdog
[As you may remember from previous episodes, the two
heroic cedis (a cedi is the currency of Ghana (pronounced
“cee-dee”) were looking to go out into the world to seek
their fortune. They first thought of going to China, where so many
cedis before them ended up, but none of these cedis had ever
returned (since China sold manufactured goods with higher value
than the raw materials it purchased from Ghana) They also decided
that jumping into a development project funded by an IGO would be a waste of time, since
they had seen so many projects, but none of them brought any improvement to the local
economy. Finally, a wise 10 pesewa coin explained to them the benefits of local self reliant
development. This “African solution for African problems” appealed to the cedis and they
listened carefully to the 10 pesewa coin.]
An ugly old one pesewa coin had been sitting quietly with them in Lili’s pocket. He was a
scarred veteran. He had seen a lot of bad harvests and inadequate meals. Suddenly, he
spoke out, “You are crazy, Cedi boy! Do you think that you can beat the system? You are
facing the boys with the big money running the big plantations. They have the odds stacked
in their favor to win. You are like the village soccer team challenging the Ghana national
team – the Black Stars. You can never win. Just tell Lili to stay in her village and be happy
with a half bowl of cassava:
One of the cedis stood up and protested strongly, “Whenever there is a sports match-up
where one team is considered superior to the other, almost everyone is rooting for the
underdog. Even staunch supporters of the superior team are excited to see the little guys
win.”

2. The one pesewa coin frowned a big round frown. “More than enthusiasm is needed to win
this game, you know? There are some real stumbling blocks here. The problems facing
villages today are enormous. At present, smallholder farmers in rural Africa have not been
able to compete with large scale plantations, as they are generally undercapitalized and
cannot afford pricy inputs such as fertilizers, herbicides and pesticides.
Moreover, they have been unable to take advantage of economies of scale in warehousing,
mechanization, marketing, and transport. As a result, they have not benefited from the
current strong global commerce and instead have been consigned to subsistence farming.
Smallholder farmers often have to use substandard land, usually without the benefit of
irrigation and low agricultural inputs. In fact, while their income has remained stagnant,
their cost of living has steadily risen. Smallholder farmers are facing ever increasing levels
of impoverishment—even as demand for their produce grows locally and globally. “
You know what, cedis, maybe the best thing for you to do would be to forget the
smallholder farmers and work on one of the big plantations.”
“In the long run that would actually make things worse, “ the 10 pesewa stated
emphatically. “This would result in the greatest increases in agro production but would
destabilize rural communities, stunt rural economic growth, exacerbate income
discrepancies between the wealthy and the poor, and ultimately would be unsustainable
and damage the soil irreparably. The challenge to increase Africa’s agricultural production
can be met most sustainably, and with greatest widespread economic boost, by the
effective transformation of the small farm sector.”
The 10 pesewa coin said quietly, yet firmly, ‘Its more than that my friend. The small
farmers can win. They may look like underdog, but GSR gives the small farmers some
powerful advantages.”