Title: A marketing plan for the Bahati Mamas
Author: Gallardo, Adriana
Date: May 2014
Description: Master’s Paper, Clark University, Department of International Development, Community and Environment and Graduate School of Management
Refugee farmers are important and often overlooked actors who contribute to the local agricultural industry. This paper explores the entrepreneurial opportunities available to immigrants and refugees participating in small scale agricultural programs in San Diego County and identifies small farming enterprises as vehicles to achieve social and economic self-sufficiency. The author used a combination of primary and secondary data including qualitative interviews with representatives of farming organizations working with refugees and immigrants in the Bronx (New York) Worcester and Lowell (Massachusetts) and Portland (Maine). The paper provides a case study of Bahati Mamas, a Somali Bantu women’s cooperative in San Diego that is contributing to the local food movement through small scale farming. The report concludes with a marketing plan for Bahati Mamas that recommends some short and long-term strategies to expand their market reach.
Keywords: refugee farmers, farming, food production, entrepreneur, Somali Bantu, San Diego, CA
Cataloged by: Selina Sikder/ B. J. Perkins