Module 11: Agricultural Entrepreneurship

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Over the past 30 years, there has been a major shift in agricultural markets and the international trade of agricultural products. The world is moving from local and national markets towards a global system of trading, which means that neighbouring farmers working on small plots of land may be competing with large industrial farmers from another country in a single marketplace.

In developing countries, there is increasing pressure on farmers to commercialise their operations. This change is driven by the following factors:

  • Declining land size, which means that farmers need more intensive production systems to support their family needs;
  • Urbanisation and rapid population growth and
  • General modernisation, which means that farming families need to generate larger incomes to support their family needs and expectations in terms of medical support, education, transport, communication and to cover the rising costs of their cultural traditions.

In order to meet the drive for greater commercialisation, extensionists need to develop new skills to support the agripreneurshipagripreneurshipDefinition: Entrepreneurship that relates to the marketing and production of various agricultural products, as well as agricultural inputs....
 needs of farmers and other actors in the value chainvalue chainDefinition: A set of connected (linked) actors that work together to add value to a product and increase efficiency and competitiveness, while linking producers to processors and markets....
. For the farmer, this includes working with individual farmers to develop farm plans, as well as working with various levels of farmer organisations—from groups to cooperatives—in areas of market analysis, financing, sales and building business opportunities for farming clientele.

New extensionists also need to take on a more market focused and systems approach to work in ways that strengthen the roles and opportunities of other actors in a value chain, such as farm workers, input supplierssupplierDefinition: A company or a business that supplies goods or services to another business, in this case a farming operation or an agrientrepreneurship....
, warehouse managers, transport companies and financial services, so that they can all work towards a common business goal.

This module familiarises extensionists with the key terms and concepts required to introduce agricultural entrepreneurship to farmers, farmer groups and agricultural businesses and to support improved productivity and market engagement. The module provides a practical approach to improving the knowledge, skills and attitudes of extension agents as they seek to help the farming community take on new enterprise skills.

Overview

Module outcomes

After completing this module, you will be able to:

  1. Understand the concept of agripreneurship;
  2. Evaluate the key skills involved in running a business;
  3. Identify markets, map resources and conduct business planning;
  4. Understand the basic principles of financial management, sales and risk management;
  5. Perform operations and financial record keeping; and
  6. Build a business and manage relationships.

What to expect

Study units
Name Total videos Total assessments
Study unit 1: Introduction to agripreneurship 11 8
Study unit 2: Evaluating the key skills involved in running a business 1 2
Study unit 3: Identifying markets, mapping resources and conducting business planning 0 5
Study unit 4: Financial management, sales and risk management 2 5
Study unit 5: Record keeping 0 3
Study unit 6: Building a business and managing relationships 0 3

Click on the button below to start Module 11:

Introduction

Study unit 1: Introduction to agripreneurship

Study unit outcomes

After completing this study unit, you should be able to:

  • Explain what farmer organisations are and discuss their importance in the current farming environment;
  • Discuss what differentiates farmer organisations from other civil society organisations; and
  • Describe the different categories of farmer organisations and discuss their different roles and the different services they provide.

Study unit overview

There is an increasing awareness in extension work that agriculture should be seen as a commercial activity. Within this context, farmers are seen as agripreneurs and farmer groups or cooperatives are seen as enterprises. This means that the goal of extension services will be to enhance profitability and sustainable productivity. In this way, the focus of extension needs to expand from focusing on poverty reduction to include value capture and wealth creation.

In this study unit, you will be introduced to agricultural entrepreneurship, the role of the extensionist in agripreneur development, agricultural entrepreneurs and successful business ideas.

This study unit is divided into the following sections:

  • Introduction
  • Session 1.1: The role of the extensionist in agripreneur development
  • Session 1.2: Criteria for a successful business
  • Session 1.3: Evaluating entrepreneurs (clients)
  • Session 1.4: Defining the business idea
  • Conclusion

Click on the button below to start the lesson for Study Unit 1:

Study Unit 1

Study unit 2: Evaluating the key skills involved in running a business

Study unit outcomes

After completing this study unit, you should be able to:

  • Business planning;
  • Market analysis;
  • Making decisions on market opportunities;
  • Learning basic calculations;
  • Financial basics;
  • Mapping the production operations;
  • Managing equipment and labour;
  • Basics of negotiating with partners;
  • Developing customer relations;
  • Marketing and sales;
  • Basic and advanced bookkeeping;
  • Skills/competencies and scale assessment; and
  • Developing a training programme.

Study unit overview

This study unit identifies the different types of skills that extension clients need to design, start, and run and grow an agricultural or a rural business. The study unit focuses on business principles and skills, stepping away a little from the agronomic thinking to a more focused approach to the business methods and skills that will help agripreneurs to upgrade their production and business operations.

This study unit is divided into the following sections:

  • Introduction
  • Session 2.1: Evaluating the key skills involved in running a business
  • Conclusion

Click on the button below to start the lesson for Study Unit 2:

Study Unit 2

Study unit 3: Identifying markets, mapping resources and conducting business planning

Study unit outcomes

After completing this study unit, you should be able to:

  • Identify market opportunities;
  • Manage key activities and partners in a business; and
  • Conduct planning from business canvas to business plan.

Study unit overview

Based on the content of the previous two study units, you should be familiar with the following elements of agripreneurship at this point:

  • The characteristics of an entrepreneur, the motivation and readiness of the extension agent’s clients in becoming agripreneurs;
  • The basic skills that the entrepreneur needs to run a business;
  • How to define a business idea and a value proposition; and
  • How to test the viability of a business idea.

In this study unit, the concept of agripreneurship is taken a step further by focusing on the following three elements: the identification of market opportunities, the management of key activities and partners and the business planning process.

This study unit is divided into the following sections:

  • Introduction
  • Session 3.1: Identifying market opportunities
  • Session 3.2: Managing key activities and partners in a business
  • Session 3.3: Business planning: From canvas to business plan
  • Conclusion

Click on the button below to start the lesson for Study Unit 3:

Study Unit 3

Study unit 4: Financial management, sales and risk management

Study unit outcomes

After completing this study unit, you should be able to:

  • Identify sources of finance, including:
    • Savings;
    • Self-help groups;
    • SACCOs;
    • Family lending;
    • Local money lenders;
    • Micro-finance institutes;
    • Banks; and
    • E-money/e-credit;
  • Manage financial resources and insurance;
  • Perform sales operations; and
  • Conduct a risk assessment.

Study unit overview

This study unit is designed to provide extensionists with knowledge about sources of finance and how to match specific types of finance with required levels of investment, explore sales strategies and help farmers to assess risks in managing their financial resources.

This study unit is divided into the following sections:

  • Introduction
  • Session 4.1: Identifying sources of finance
  • Session 4.2: Managing financial resources
  • Session 4.3: The basics of sales
  • Session 4.4: Assessing risk
  • Conclusion

Click on the button below to start the lesson for Study Unit 4:

Study Unit 4

Study unit 5: Record keeping

Study unit outcomes

After completing this study unit, you should be able to perform the following record keeping:

  • Operations record keeping; and
  • Financial record keeping.

Study unit overview

This unit is designed to introduce extensionists to basic methods of record keeping for both production operations and finances, which can be used to facilitate the smooth running of a business. Completing this module should allow you to strengthen your extension tool kit by becoming familiar with methods of record keeping and helping your clients to maintain reliable records as their businesses develop.

This study unit is divided into the following sections:

  • Introduction
  • Session 5.1: Operations record keeping
  • Session 5.2: Financial record keepings
  • Conclusion

Click on the button below to start the lesson for Study Unit 5:

Study Unit 5

Study unit 6: Building a business and managing relationships

Study unit outcomes

After completing this study unit, you should be able to:

  • Put plans into action and monitor progress; and
  • Manage relationships.

Study unit overview

This study unit is designed to help extensionists support farmers and farmer groups when they have started their business ventures, using a set of tools to help assess the performance of the business and for planning the next steps. Completing this module should allow you to:

  • Help farmers plan their business strategies;
  • Monitor performance; and
  • Manage relationships with their team, service providers, value chain partners and customers.

This study unit is divided into the following sections:

  • Introduction
  • Session 6.1: Putting plans into action and monitoring progress
  • Session 6.2: Managing relationships
  • Conclusion

Click on the button below to start the lesson for Study Unit 6:

Study Unit 6