Consumer and Entrepreneurial Literacy Program – Marketplace Literacy

Day 1 focuses on marketplace exchanges. We cover the concept of a value chain from production to consumption. Day 1 begins by facilitating participants to be comfortable in a new learning environment, and then discussing and clarifying expectations. Key issues addressed here include the nature of the program, providing generic consumer and entrepreneurial literacy rather than specific trade skills. This is followed by covering the basics of marketplace exchanges. Various concepts are conveyed through discussions, exercises, and games, rather than lectures. How exchanges have evolved over time is an important topic for the first day, such as transactions evolving from barter to currency to various forms of credit. This discussion highlights the centrality of finding a demand and serving it better than the competition. The notion of a value chain as comprising multiple exchanges is also introduced. As mentioned earlier, one task in particular is illustrative, and involves a number of pictures relevant to a value chain (say, a farmer growing fruits through wholesaler and retailer to a customer) along with a picture of money. Participants are asked to place the pictures on a chart with concentric circles, placing the most important picture in the middle. Often, participants place money at the center. When this task is repeated on the third day, most participants place the customer at the center, emphasizing the importance of satisfying customer needs to run a business.