“The Strategic Consulting Project was without a doubt the highlight of my year. I joined three other MBA students in The Gambia to conduct a full strategic audit of a social enterprise called Gambia is Good (GiG). GiG purchases horticulture products from smallholder farmers and markets them to tourist hotels and restaurants. It was started in 2004 by a joint partnership between Concern Universal, an international NGO, and Haygrove, the UK's leading organic fruit producers. Since then, it has catalysed fruit and vegetable production from up to 1000 smallholder farmers (most of whom are women) but its goal of achieving self-sufficiency remains elusive."

Mike, with his fellow SCP team and Gambia is Good

Our team started by assessing the entire business (production, sales and marketing, quality control, finance, and human resources) before bringing together a diverse group of stakeholders to facilitate a shared vision, long term goal, short term goal, and strategic focus. We then worked with the GiG team on the ground to develop and begin implementing operational plans. We left GiG with a full strategic business plan, 12 month action plan, and a comprehensive set of operational tools to implement.

It was a tremendous learning experience, especially having the opportunity to work with such a talented team from different industry and geographical backgrounds.