Page 19 - SMART2021_Symposium DRAFT

CARL Group: Resilience Through the Lens of a

Community Capitals Framework

A Student Multidisciplinary Applied Research Team (SMART) Project

Alethia Chan¹, Matthew Sorge², Mika Ulmet³

Team Leader: Lin Fu⁴

Faculty Advisor: Ralph Christy⁵

The CARL Group

CARL Group’s Value Chain

Roughly 38% of children in Rwanda

under age five suffer from malnutrition Sourcing Storage/ Product

(USAID, 2018). The CARL Group Processing Formulation Distribution Outreach

produces breads & biscuits made of

orange fleshed sweet potatoes

(OFSP), rich in vitamin A, to address CARL sources CARL CARL CARL CARL markets

malnutrition in Rwanda. OFSP from processes repackages distributes their products

final sweet
& educates
This study analyzes resilience in the farmers, many fresh OFSP & sweet food to food products others about
of whom are
makes sweet
CARL Group using the Community smallholder food (bread & appeal to to nutrition and

target

Capitals Framework (CCF). farmers biscuits) consumers supermarkets healthy eating

Methods: Community Capitals Framework

Social Capital: Strong

relationships with

The Community Capitals supermarket buyers

help promote sales

Framework (CCF) is a qualitative Built Capital:
Production and

systems-based approach used storage equipment, Human Capital: Strong
relationships with
transportation vehicles

to identify the seven different employees boost morale

forms of capitals in a community

(Emery & Flora, 2006).

Financial Capital: High

Political Capital: level of debt, making it
This study adapted the use of Connections with difficult to meet short-

CCF to analyze SME resiliency board members and term obligations

government officials

with an in-depth look into the

CARL Group based on interviews

with the CEO and a 60 Decibles Cultural Capital: Open Natural Capital:

Abundance and ease of

survey report. culture with transparency sweet potato production

as a priority
but low land availability

Conclusion

The CCF can be used to analyze The CARL Group has shown The CARL Group’s numerous capital

resilience in MSMEs based on the resilience due to its connections to connections led to a spiraling-up effect

depth and quantity of the connections many different forms of capital that allows for increased resilience in

between forms of capital response to global disruptions

Acknowledgements Affiliations References

Thank you to Mr. Regis Umugiraneza (CARL ¹ ⁴ ⁵ Charles H. Dyson School of Applied Emery, M., & Flora, C. (2006). Spiraling-up:

Group) for making this partnership possible Economics Management Mapping community transformation with

through his flexibility, organizational access, ² Department of International Agriculture and community capitals framework. Community

and generous time and attention. Rural Development development, 37(1), 19-35.

Thank you to Dr. Lin Fu, Dr. Ndunge Kiiti, and ³ Department of Global Development

Dr. Ralph Christy for their mentorship and USAID. (2018). Rwanda: Nutritional Profile.

guidance. Retrieved January 14th, 2020, from USAID website:
https://www.usaid.gov/sites/default/files/documents/

1864/Rwanda-Nutrition-Profile-Mar2018-508.pdf