EMP & SMART in the News
Professor Ralph D. Christy discusses initiatives for strengthening SMEs with APO Secretary-General
July 23, 2024
“On July 18, 2024, Professor Ralph D. Christy of the Charles H. Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management at Cornell University paid a courtesy visit to Secretary-General Dr. Indra Pradana Singawinata at the APO Secretariat. During the meeting, they discussed recent challenges faced by SMEs in Asia and explored potential collaborations for strengthening SME capacity.
Professor Christy also shared his initiative for a Global South-to-South Forum in 2025, to be held in Indonesia, inspired by the historic Bandung Conference of 1955. This forum aims to foster collaboration between Asia and Africa, focusing on economic cooperation, cultural exchange, and the role of SMEs in driving economic growth. The initiative emphasizes supporting SMEs in accessing markets and financing.”
SMART Program Hosts 23rd Annual Symposium and Wharton Award Dinner
May 1, 2024 By: Mary Lorson
“In April, the Student Multidisciplinary Applied Research Teams (SMART) program hosted its annual dinner celebrating student projects and presenting the 2024 Wharton Award to agricultural economist Fenton B. Sands Jr. SMART offers students and faculty global service-learning and research opportunities at the Charles H. Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management , part of the Cornell SC Johnson College of Business.”
The Wharton Award celebrates the enduring contributions of pioneering Black economist Clifton R. Wharton, who worked with the Rockefeller Foundation in Southeast Asia and was president of Michigan State University, CEO of TIAA-CREF, and Deputy Secretary of State under President Bill Clinton.
Honorees at the event included Peter Matlon (2008), Ronnie Coffman (2023), and Fenton B. Sands Jr. (2024), with Cornell SC Johnson College Dean Andrew Karolyi, SMART program executive director Fridah Mubichi-Kut, and Ralph Christy, Emerging Markets Program director and founder of SMART.”
Emerging Markets Program hosts celebration of SMART experiential research
July 18, 2022
“The Student Multidisciplinary Applied Research Teams (SMART) Program hosted a dinner to honor Professor
Iwan J. Azis
with the Wharton Award and celebrate a student poster presentation at the Statler Hotel on the Cornell University campus in April. The SMART program offers students unique, global service-learning opportunities through the
Emerging Markets Program at the
Charles H. Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management. Azis is a professor of applied economics and policy at Dyson.”
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Reflecting on international service projects with Dyson’s SMART program
Dyson Business Feed – Charles H. Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management
March 31, 2020
“In January 2020, the Student Multidisciplinary Applied Research Teams (SMART) program, part of Dyson’s Emerging Markets Program, embarked on its annual service learning field study. SMART sent out nine teams—three to Asia and six to Africa—with a total of 44 students and leaders from across Cornell University to complete service projects they had been preparing collaboratively with businesses—mainly small and medium size enterprises—from around the globe.”
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SMART students learn from the unexpected to make a global impact
Dyson Business Feed – Charles H. Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management
August 2, 2019
“We’re conditioned to think the professor at the front of the classroom is the only educator, but sometimes, the best lessons come from unexpected sources. In the Student Multidisciplinary Applied Research Teams (SMART) program, multiple interactions play a role in education, and students learn from many of the people they encounter—especially in the field.”
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2019 SMART program reflections: Cappeny Estates, South Africa
Dyson Business Feed – Charles H. Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management
May 23, 2019
“The SMART experience is meaningful and transformative because of its ability to tackle interdisciplinary questions about development, learning that is only possible through holistic engagement from the student. Reflecting on my experience working with Cappeny Estates and my SMART team, the main takeaway was that business norms and trajectories are neither objective nor purely economic; in many cases, particularly those that involve emerging markets, its sociopolitical factors and complex national or ethnic histories that heavily impact business goals and environments.”
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2019 SMART program reflections: O’live Handmade Soaps, South Africa
Dyson Business Feed – Charles H. Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management
May 21, 2019
“I was surprised at how much the country’s complicated history affects O’live. As a black-owned business, it faces many difficulties, but also many opportunities from controversial government policies. I learned a lot—even in just 10 days—from being involved in a business built on passion and determination. Working with a multidisciplinary team was also educational, and it allowed me to form lasting friendships.”
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2019 SMART program reflections: FCC, Colombia
Dyson Business Feed – Charles H. Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management
May 14, 2019
“I’ve had the opportunity to observe a social setting that has enormous implications on both a cooperative’s activities and its member communities. I got the chance to meet with FCC’s member farmers, agroecological school students, and local experts. I’ve learned a great deal from meeting them and hearing more about their experiences; far more than I would otherwise learn from reading an academic paper inside the classroom.”
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2019 SMART program reflections: Azuri Health, Kenya
Dyson Business Feed – Charles H. Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management
April 11, 2019
“Azuri Health, located in Thika, Kenya, is a small business that focuses on providing nutritious products, in the forms of dried fruits, various porridges, and flours to the surrounding Nairobi area… The SMART team was challenged to explore, understand, and document Azuri’s value chain to inform market opportunities for growth within Kenya and beyond. The team was tasked with completing market research analysis.”
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2019 SMART program reflections: Cau Chocolates, Indonesia
Dyson Business Feed – Charles H. Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management
April 5, 2019
“Cau Chocolates is a small, private, and family-owned business with headquarters in Tabanan, Bali, Indonesia. The company began by offering rural tours to international visitors in an agro-tourism format, but they soon found that their chocolates were the most viable part of their business model… The [SMART] team was challenged to investigate how Cau Chocolates could upgrade its offerings and provide value-added products in rural Indonesia.”
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APO conducts workshop on Accelerating Agribusiness Startups
Asian Productivity Organization News
March 18, 2019
“The Asian Productivity Organization (APO) concluded a workshop on Accelerating Agribusiness Startups in Yogyakarta, 11–15 March 2019. The collaborative program with Cornell University’s Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management was conducted with support from Indonesia’s Bureau for International Cooperation of the Ministry of Agriculture and Directorate General of Training and Productivity of the Ministry of Manpower.”
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Malawians Eating Less Cassava, Potatoes
The Times Group
January 14, 2019
“Producers of root crops in the country have decried low consumption of their products on the local market. The producers have attributed the situation to the dominance of cereals such as maize and failure by Malawians to adjust to such products. This came out when one of the players in the business, Fannie Gondwe of Perisha Agro and Packaging Enterprise, was hosting a team of researchers from the United States (US) Cornell University who are in the country to conduct a study on production, use and marketing of root crops.”
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SMART Program reflections: Herbal View in South Africa
Dyson Business Feed – Charles H. Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management
March 15, 2018
“Herbal View is a hydroponic food security project that produces vegetables and herbs. The business operates on farmland in Simondium and uses tunnels, shade nets, and open fields. Recently, Herbal View has started processing herbs and spices in addition to making its own pesto. The business aims to position itself as a marketable brand in various parts of South Africa, which requires new labelling and branding and a marketing campaign.”
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SMART Program reflections: Dirkosh Crunch in Ethiopia
Dyson Business Feed – Charles H. Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management
March 2, 2018
“Over winter break, I had the incredible opportunity to participate in Cornell’s Student Multidisciplinary Applied Research Team (SMART) as a consultant for Dirkosh Crunch, a small agri-business, in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The experience was unique and unparalleled to anything any of my team members and I had ever experienced before. We all are profoundly grateful for having had the opportunity and hope to see Dirkosh succeed and grow into a prosperous business.”
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A Business Evaluation of the Sales and Distribution Model for Index-Based Livestock Insurance in Kenya
Economics that Really Matters
February 28, 2018
“’Developing the insurance product was the easy part. The tweaking, monitoring, and adapting – that has been much more complicated.’ This, in essence, was what Cornell development economist Christopher Barrett informed us as we began discussing our upcoming Kenya research trip with him. He was right. Since the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) formulated Index-Based Livestock Insurance (IBLI) ten years ago, the product has been lauded as a strategy to prevent drought-induced livestock losses among Kenyan and Ethiopian pastoralists.”
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Noteworthy: Student teams advise entrepreneurs in Africa
Dyson Business Feed – Charles H. Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management
December 8, 2017
“Entrepreneurs in developing economies face unique marketing challenges when growing their businesses. The Student Multidisciplinary Applied Research Team (SMART) program at Cornell, now in its 15th year, has a long history of helping burgeoning entrepreneurs successfully expand their operations. Part of the Emerging Markets Program in the Charles H. Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management in the Cornell SC Johnson College of Business, SMART sends compact teams of undergraduate and graduate students to consult with small businesses around the globe.”
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Service learning overseas is worth the risks. Parents should be proud, not scared.
USA Today
September 5, 2017
“I was working in my garden recently when my neighbor, Christina Culver, walked over almost in tears. “My son has decided to go to Kenya for another volunteer engagement. I am worried about his safety,” she said. As students start their new semesters at colleges and universities, many are considering signing up for international opportunities this academic year. I am sure my neighbor is not the only parent feeling this concern. As both a father and someone who has worked with international service-learning trips for students at Cornell University, I instantly recognized what my neighbor felt.”
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Cornell’s SMART program wins success story award
Cornell Chronicle
December 19, 2016
“Cornell’s Student Multidisciplinary Applied Research Team (SMART) was recognized for its impact on poor communities by earning the L.A. Potts Success Story award on Dec. 5 at the Professional Agricultural Workers Conference… The program, started in 2002 as part of the CIIFAD program in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, brings together teams of students and faculty from diverse disciplines across Cornell and pairs them with firms, organizations or community groups in developing countries.”
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