...(LDCs). Still riddled with challenges, its greatest potential is the entrepreneurial independence it encourages in many of the world's poorest communities.

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Oita prefecture's experiment

The OVOP scheme began as a way of developing products or services within a community by adding value to locally available resources. It was first introduced as a policy in Japan by former Governor of Oita prefecture, Hiramatsu Morihiko, considered the father of OVOP and the first Governor in Japan's history to act as a salesman for local producers, at one time even taking beef from the prefecture to the Tokyo meat markets. As legend has it, the middlemen were so impressed by this enthusiastic politician, they paid a higher bidding price for his wares. His enthusiasm for pushing Oita's products and, less tangibly, festivals and cultural sites, brought the prefecture under...

NOTE: All illustrations and photos have been removed from this article.




More articles from Japan Inc.
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