Community Entrepreneurship: A Study With Reference to Jasmine Growers of Karnataka

Abstract

Entrepreneurship is an inclusive concept. Everlasting thirst to understand the 'spirit of enterprise' of adventurous people has changed the imagery of entrepreneur, from individual entrepreneur to 'team', at times, rolled over to 'group' and finally reached the level of 'community'. Development debate of recent years focused on 'inclusive development' provided a platform to understand and appreciate the entrepreneurial skills of common people to break-free from the shackles of poverty, unemployment and the consequential spill-overs. Community-entrepreneurship, proposed in this paper, speaks about a set of attitudes, competences and skills (technical and social) of common people to participate in community-based enterprise and then see through its fruition for common good. This paper reflects on case study of a community-based enterprise of jasmine growers in Udupi district of coastal Karnataka that has been working effectively for nearly 75 years, percolating substantial benefits to rural masses without government interference. Udupi Jasmine is recognised as a geographical indicator product as per IPR of WTO and has been grown in several villages of coastal Karnataka. Started as kitchen garden model of jasmine growing in a few households, this floriculture has gained the shape of community-based enterprise with many growers, flower-merchants, their procurement agents working in their own to keep it going and growing. Jasmine grown in this area is not only marketed in distant Mumbai market by early afternoon but it reaches Persian Gulf market by same evening to fetch a good price. There are enough evidences that social capital has its role in smooth functioning of growing in small scale, aggrandising it into marketable lot, fix the price for jasmine in framework developed for analysing this CBE proves that healthy community based enterprise last long only when there is complete union of 'People Development' with 'Environment Development'.