By Tommy Bennett
Roots Africa Case Study:
This case study observes the founding and development of the agricultural extension organization Roots Africa, highlighting their experiences with organization modeling and ethical service. Roots, beginning as a student club at the University of Maryland in 2017, rapidly evolved into an international, nonprofit organization which challenged leadership to make integral decisions on how to evolve their organizational model to best serve the African agricultural communities they partnered with. Among these decisions, Roots decided to close their founding club at UMD, readapt their approach to support farmers from implementing agricultural solutions to expanding on them, all the while developing their plans for impact measurement.
At the core of this case is a story on the value behind relationship building and knowledge sharing with the goal of empowering young entrepreneurs. Through the study and accompanied discussion, students should become more knowledgeable about organizational model development, specifically in its relation to providing ethical service to Global Majority populations, and the role relationship building in the process of enacting community change.