The Bonet Framework

We often tell young people to study early, not because it’s a habit, but because we’ve learnt from our mistakes. I learnt this the hard way.

There was a chance to get a scholarship, but only for people of a certain age. I wasn’t nominated. But fate has a strange way of breaking the rules. One of the nominees was not eligible because they were above the restricted age. I was suddenly the last choice, with only one day left before the deadline.

I started to panic. I rushed to get the papers I needed and quickly wrote a Concept Note. What do I suggest? “One Product, One Village.” I imagined a Malawi where competitive advantage wasn’t just a theory; it was a way to build internal markets. In the south, there are pigeon peas and animals. Field crops in the Central Region. In the north, there are cows, coffee, and more. We would only focus on improving quality and exporting once we met domestic demand, just like China did. It was a big goal. It was unprocessed. It was a dream.

And for some reason, it worked.
I was given a chance to get a higher degree. When I got there, the faculty greeted me with a curious comment: “We looked at your study interest.” Very interesting. But then the turn came. They said, “We have priorities as a country.” They thought that my topic fit better with Food Science and Technology. What they really wanted was Economic History Exploration.

They gave me a task: “Help us figure out how agro-processing helped the US, UK, Japan, and South Korea get out of the middle-income trap.” We have information that goes back to the year 1400. Look at it. “Tell us what you think.”

And just like that, my dream of internal markets came up against the facts of world history.