"It is only after you figure out the root cause of a grand challenge, you will be amazed by how trivial the solution is"
Behind every column, paragraph, and line I share lies a persistent question: "Why are smallholder farmers in developing economies poor?" Understanding the root causes of this global challenge is the first and most crucial step toward addressing it.
By identifying these root causes, we not only begin to solve poverty but also tackle related challenges, such as hunger and the broader systemic issues that stem from it. Finding this solution has the potential to transform lives and create sustainable change on a global scale.
The study of poverty is a multifaceted and intricate field with numerous contributing factors. To maintain our focus and effectiveness in our pursuit of the root causes of poverty, we began by systematically filtering out the secondary causes and symptoms that result from poverty rather than driving it.
Let us remember that our goal is not just to find ways to increase farmers' income—though that is important—but to identify a cause so fundamental that it explains the widespread nature of poverty among smallholders globally. This understanding is crucial in our quest to eradicate poverty.
Along the winding journey, many ideas emerged on how to solve poverty; for example, I've often received proposals advocating specific cultivation methods, such as conventional, organic, regenerative, or agroforestry, each claiming to significantly increase farmers' income and improving their food security and health while benefiting the environment.
These methods, while valuable, fail to address the root cause of poverty because they operate within an outdated framework. While environmental stewardship and health are undeniably important, these methods alone have never lifted farmers out of poverty, even when they resulted in temporary higher yields and earnings.
There are also those who advocate for single "magical" interventions to eliminate poverty, like the transformative power of fertilizers. Bill Gates once said, "I've never been shy about my passion for fertilizer. It's a magical innovation that's responsible for saving millions of lives from hunger and lifting millions more out of poverty by boosting agricultural productivity".
Yet, reality has repeatedly shown that adopting a new cultivation practice or introducing a novel technology like fertilizers has yet to solve poverty. Like many other technological advancements, fertilizers are merely tools; they can only create prosperity with supportive and aligned ecosystems and business models.
I learned this lesson the hard way. After developing the Freedome technology, Biofeed's zero-spray solution for fruit fly control, which reduces 100% of dedicated sprays and 99% of infestations, I realized that farmers couldn't achieve true prosperity based solely on technology, regardless of how advanced and effective.
This realization led to the founding of Dream Valley company, which offers a complete, vertically integrated, state-of-the-art agricultural package, with Freedome as part of it, this time, provided free of charge.
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Through rigorous research, historical analysis, social studies, open data examination, and personal experience, which I have shared with you, my journey led to a striking conclusion: farmers' prosperity is largely determined by the combined effects of organizational structure, as explained by the Prosperity Model, and the agricultural package they rely on.
In other words, smallholder farmers in developing economies remain poor because they operate within an inefficient organizational structure and depend on an outdated, unfit, and uncompetitive agricultural package—rooted in the Agricultural Revolution that began over 11,000 years ago.
This outdated package is not only inefficient; its components are fundamentally misaligned with each other and with the general and agro opportunities and demands of the 21st-century business environment. As a result, this combination of an ineffective organizational structure and a mismatched agricultural package is incapable of competing with modern organizations and packages developed during the Industrial Revolution and Ltd-era.
SOCIAL ASPECTS: THE PRIMARY ROOT CAUSE OF POVERTY
The evidence supporting this conclusion is abundant and convincing, bolstered by the Prosperity Formula and Model, which emphasize the critical role of social dimensions in determining the prosperity of organizations and societies.
While social aspects in the Agricultural Package, as in any business package, are embedded within the ecosystem component, they are central to the Prosperity Formula and Model. Two of its three elements—Social Integration and Internal Disintegration—explicitly reflect this.
If there's one key takeaway from our discussions, it's this: the Agricultural Package and the Prosperity Formula and Model are not just interlinked but deeply complementary and interdependent, reinforcing one another. Together, they offer a holistic approach to understanding and combating poverty, ensuring that efforts to improve one aspect do not inadvertently weaken another. They provide the most essential framework for anyone serious about eradicating poverty.
Thanks to these tools—the Agricultural Package concept, Prosperity Formula, and Prosperity Model—we can finally explain the poverty of smallholder farmers. Moreover, they allow us to interpret past events and, crucially, to design future programs grounded in scientifically sound models that enable accurate predictions of their outcomes, much like in physics and other natural sciences.
SELF-REFLECTION
Looking back, I began this journey believing that the most effective way to help farmers in developing countries was through better technologies—solutions tailored to their unique needs and demands. Yet, as I arrive at the end of this chapter, I find myself pointing toward a much deeper realization: true transformation for smallholder farmers depends not on technology alone but on the strength of the social, organizational, and conceptual frameworks within which they operate.
This discovery has been a humbling reminder of how easily we can overlook crucial elements of complex problems when we fail to understand the root cause. Without deep reflection, thorough study, and the use of holistic tools—such as formulas and models that provide objective, unbiased explanations—we risk missing the complete picture. These tools help explain current and past realities and offer predictive ability, enabling us to address problems more effectively and avoid superficial solutions.
What's even more significant is that this lesson offers hope: it is hope for those willing to undertake the necessary changes, knowing that while change may be difficult, the cost of inaction is far greater. The price of not changing is paid every minute, every hour, and every day as poverty slowly consumes those trapped in outdated systems. There is no neutral ground regarding progress; stagnation is an active force, leading to poverty, draining life and opportunity with every passing moment.
The universal principles underpinning the Prosperity Model reveal a truth that should fill us all with humility and urgency: humanity thrives through genuine togetherness. Our success—whether as individuals, communities, or nations—reflects how well we practice authentic collaboration and integration, not the artificial unity often marketed to us by media, politicians, or corporations.
By using togetherness as an indicator, we can easily distinguish between positive leaders who strive to unite people despite their differences and toxic leaders who sow division to maintain control. Individualism, yes—but within a framework of collective organization, whether it be a company, Kibbutz, NGO, or country.
Together forever is not just an ideal—it is a directive from the universe itself, a guiding principle that pushes us toward a greater realization of our interconnectedness. The closer we come to this vision, the better it will be for all of us, for togetherness is not just a strategy for prosperity but a way of life that holds the key to our survival and growth.
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TAKEAWAY MESSAGES
Ø Aligned social structures and agricultural packages unlock sustainable prosperity.
Ø Poverty's root cause lies in outdated and incompatible agricultural systems.
Ø Togetherness, not isolation, is the key to lasting prosperity.
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More on the October 7th genocide in South Israel:
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"Mental and Economic Freedom Are Interconnected."
See you soon,
Nimrod
Dr. Nimrod Israely is the CEO and Founder of Dream Valley and Biofeed companies and the Chairman and Co-founder of the IBMA conference. +972-54-2523425 (WhatsApp), or email nisraely@biofeed.co.il
P.S.
If you missed it, here is a link to last week's blog, “Why Replacing Self-Independence with Togetherness Transformed Israeli Farmers from Poverty to Prosperity?"
P.P.S.
OPEN BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES:
1) Exporting fresh fruits from Africa to the EU under the Dream Valley regenerative protocol brand for the 2024 season.
2) Joining the Nova-Kibbutz concept project or establishing a similar initiative in your region.
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P.P.P.S.
Dream Valley is a field-proven disruptive business model based on the successful Israeli Model.
*This article addresses general phenomena. The mention of a country/continent is used for illustration purposes only.
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