| As a result of the extensive coherent ecosystem support, the agro-business characteristics of the value and supply chains depicted above look like this for Israeli mango growers: Yield –50,000 kg/ha, of which 75% is export quality, 25% is local quality, 5% is not marketable. Primary market – high-quality export and local markets. Price - over 1.0$/Kg. Income - around 50,000$ per hectare. GETTING THE JOB DONE / JOB TO BE DONE "Getting the job done" means that when we get up in the morning, we have many jobs to do, like preparing breakfast, getting the children to school, going to work, performing our work tasks on the best side, etc. While the tasks remain the same, e.g., eating, education, transportation, and livelihood, the "how we get them done" continuously changes. To practice the "how" better, we need the support of others so we can do our tasks better. For example, transportation to work once was by foot, then by animals, and now by cars, trains, and airplanes. The task of getting to work remains the same, but we practice it differently thanks to technological and service advancement. We wouldn’t be able to drive a car without the technologies provided by the automobile industries and the mechanics and gas station services, and we wouldn’t be able to use an airplane without airline service. To do a job better, we must rely on others to provide improved technologies and services. Farmers, like other professions, have one task, one job to be done – to provide their families with a decent livelihood that will assure their present and future. How farmers "get the job done" continuously changes, but the job remains the same – livelihood. Those who change slowly get the job done less effectively, resulting in decreased income and livelihood. It is imperative to understand, though, that the result of a farmer's job is "feeding the world"; a farmer doesn't get up in the morning thinking, "I need to feed the world." No, not at all! A farmer gets up in the morning thinking, "I need to take care of my family by providing them with a decent livelihood". To get the “livelihood” job done, it doesn’t matter to farmers if they grow wheat, coffee, apples, mangos, or tomatoes; the only thing that matters is how much profit they get annually to support their families. RELYING ON OTHERS I described above two distinctive value and supply chains - The short, low cost involves few to no experts and a small number of participants. In such a value chain, the farmer can do all or nearly all activities alone, with little need for cooperation. Since copying such a value chain is easy, many practice it (low entry barriers), resulting in low income per hectare. On a Job To Be Done scale, such farmers would score around 1 to 3. In contrast, the lengthy and costly Israeli agroecosystem, with its many experts/specialists participants, where farmers must rely on others to help them get the job done, is highly complex and challenging to copy, resulting in high income per hectare. On a Job To Be Done scale, such farmers would score around 7 to 9. For too many years, people concluded that some farmers get the job done better because they have more money and, hence, more technologies. However, as we will soon see, getting the job done (i.e., improving livelihood) begins with something other than money or technology. Note: the group of farmers that got the higher score in getting the job done appropriately heavily relied on others to help them get the job done effectively (improving their livelihood). NO ONE TO RELY ON Do you think Israeli farmers began farming when they were “economically established”, or was it the other way around? What if I told you that the Israeli farming trajectory to success began 153 years ago, decades before the establishment of the State of Israel? 153 years ago, the Ottoman Empire (Turkish) ruled the land that we now call Israel. You could trust the Ottoman bureaucrats and experts in agriculture with one thing only: asking for bribery, nothing more. In those days, there were few Israeli-Jewish farmers. Those few farmers were working in village-like communities (i.e., Moshava), where each acted separately from the others, relying primarily on himself and his workers. In summary, 153 years ago, those farmers couldn't expect support or rely on the central empire's governance or their friends or others (strangers) to support them in getting the job done. They had no alternative other than counting on themselves. So they did, and they remained impoverished. Does that sound familiar? Those were the days before "AgTech” and “AgroTech" were keywords, before everyone believed technology was the ultimate solution to human problems and suffering. 153 years ago, the farmers were poorer than most smallholders today and had access to zero advanced technology or piles of government/World Bank/NGOs/Gates Foundation/... money. Already 153 years ago, farmers realized that unless they wished to remain poor, they must have a reliable system to support them so they could perform their job to be done, i.e., improve their livelihood, better. But how can you practice your Job To Be Done better if you can’t rely on and trust the central Ottoman Empire's governance, for they were either corrupted, lacked the required knowledge and skills, didn’t care about farmers, or all combined? 1917, when the British Empire stepped in, replacing the fading-out Ottoman Empire, things improved but not significantly. So, what changed the walk of history and the Israeli agro sector trajectory? BUILDING A PATH TO GET THE JOB DONE In the late 19th century (still under the Ottoman Empire), Jewish-Israeli farmers realized the following truths: • Farmers must be part of a supportive, reliable, and trusted ecosystem. • Only the Ottoman establishment had the potential to provide farmers with the professional and business support needed, but they failed to deliver it. • There was no alternative ecosystem to replace the non-functional Ottoman Empire ecosystem. • Without an improved alternative support ecosystem, farmers would remain impoverished. • An alternative ecosystem must be a coherent value network, i.e., include the entire value and supply chains. Understanding the above began the golden age of the Israeli agro sector, which happened before the establishment of the State of Israel. First came the education and science revolution to ensure farmers could have access to the best and up-to-date knowledge, particularly the knowledge relevant to the local challenges and conditions. 153 years ago, still under the Ottoman Empire, the first Israeli agricultural school - Mikveh Israel- was established. Finally, farmers would have certainty about where they can reach for knowledge and local professional support. Furthermore, the school provided the young agro-industry with trained workers. I feel proud talking about Mikveh Israel, for one of its students and later a worker in Israel's young agro-industry was Ilan Israely, whom I call ‘my father.' | 
