| Business moves the wheels of the global economy. The modern economy cannot be sustained without business! If everything is about business, is there a place for moral values in business, particularly in the agro-business? THE DRUG DEALERS Like it or not, drug dealers are "business" people. They offer their products without asking the customers - What is the problem? - What are your goals and dreams? - What do you want to achieve? - Why do you need it? - What are your skills? - What are your income and profitability? - How will the product help you? - Do you know how to maximize the benefits of the product? - Do you have the financial ability to purchase the product? Furthermore, a drug dealer does not care about the future of his clients and therefore does not advise on - Their health - Their mental strength - Meaning of continued use of the product - The feasibility of the investment - Their payment ability - Expected ROI - Alternatives - Pros and cons analysis - Long-term impact The only goal of drug dealers is – to maximize their income (by having more clients and selling more to each). Drug dealers must sell as many drugs as possible to reach “their goal," where any drug will suffice. If it means that to make money, their customers will suffer, be poor, hungry, sick, homeless, or turn into thieves and robbers with no foreseen future, then so let it be; they couldn’t care less. THE AGRO-BUSINESS Three agro-business stories. The salesman - During the years I served as the crop protection officer, I purchased pesticides from many agrochemical companies. One of the companies had a field service person, exceptionally dedicated. Once a week, on Monday morning, he would call me and ask how much I had purchased of his company’s pesticides in the previous week. He then would continue, asking for this week’s planned orders, offering a "special price" for those. This guy was never interested in my professional or business results or problems; he was only interested in maximizing his sales. The expert - A month ago, I spoke with an expert working on an African agricultural demonstration farm. The expert explicitly said that when the project runs out of support budget, it will immediately collapse and perish. According to him, the project is economically unsustainable, and the locals don't have the professional know-how to sustain it. The expert cared only about getting done what was needed to ensure the funds kept steaming in; he cared nothing about the project and farmers’ success and future. Programs - There are multi-billion $ national/continental support agro programs. Those programs provide small-hold farmers subsidies and funds to purchase advanced technologies and chemicals, mainly from big, influential, multi-national agrochemical companies. During all those years, farmers remained poor, with hardly any improvement, while $ billions kept coming into the bank accounts of those agrochemical companies. Question: If the agrochemical companies (and others) would work with small-hold farmers without caring about their situation and regardless of the results (which are as poor as the farmers), then what is the difference between their business approach to that of drug dealers? Is it moral to provide technologies or services you know will not get your buyers closer to their goals? Is it moral they purchase as a result of pressure? “VALUES AND MORALITY ARE NOT A BURDEN TO THE BUSINESS; THEY ARE THE FOUNDATIONS ON WHICH A BUSINESS EXISTS. OTHERWISE, WE ARE NO DIFFERENT FROM DRUG DEALERS.” MORALITY IS THE DIFFERENCE Some think that integrating ethics and moral considerations into business harms business results. The truth couldn't be further from that. Meanwhile, the reality is that by incorporating moral values in businesses, more often than not, we improve our business results. For example, according to the Corruption Index, countries with a low level of corruption are more successful from an economic business point of view (see Corruption Index). Hence, running a business where decisions are "free" from moral values or the employees' and company's stated values differ could be a fatal business mistake. Below are two examples of events in which I had to make a critical decision that included business and moral components. Example 1 In 2000, Israeli fruit growers sprayed pesticides for fruit fly control once a week. The agrochemical companies delivered the message that only pesticide sprays could effectively control fruit flies, and no other alternative was likely effective enough. Like the agrochemical companies, the experts and farmers were sure controlling fruit flies without pesticide sprays was impossible. Some optimists dared to dream of reducing 30% of fruit fly sprays by using traps. Farmers’ optimistic dream was to purchase their (poisonous) pesticides for a lower price. I had in mind something else, a dream of a technology that would allow adequate crop protection without pesticide sprays. This would benefit farmers, public health, and the future of agriculture in Israel and elsewhere. I began developing a technology and protocol for fruit fly control to meet my goals and plans for the agro-industry. I set the expectation high (!) and established a company named Biofeed to fulfill my dream, desire, and vision. Developing the technology and protocol took years and a lot of effort. It took even longer to change farmers’ and experts’ mental attitudes toward non-spray alternatives. Ten years later, the survey results presented A) 98% decrease in sprays for fruit fly control, B) 63% decrease of sprays for other pests (thanks to improved bio-control), and C) 93% less infestation. Remember, we were working with some of the best fruit growers in the world and still managed to reduce, without sprays (!), fruit infestation by 93%! These results are not only positive from a professional perspective but from a business perspective as well. Biofeed has created a sustainable and significant business advantage and brought considerable benefits to its clients/farmers (no more spray of poisonous chemicals). | 
