Agri Entrepreneurship Training Manual

The entrepreneurship training presented in this manual is aimed at building the capacity of smallholder farmers in CA and AF thereby enhancing CGIAR’s Systems priority 3(Reducing rural poverty through agricultural diversification and emerging opportunities for high-value commodities and products) Priority 4 (Reducing extreme poverty and hunger) MDG 7 (Environmental sustainability and MDG 3 (Reducing the gender disparity). The development of this training manual is based on our experience and the extensive feedback received from different segments of entrepreneurs and trainers. The methodologies suggested here are being practised successfully in many fields. Efforts have been made to provide some significant information on the contents of each session. However, in the ever-changing economic scenario and information explosion, it is inevitable for the trainee to build upon the skills, update, give value addition and use the information here-in effectively to achieve the objectives.

Agricultural entrepreneurs in conflict and post-conflict regions face special challenges; not just everyday personal risks, but also the difficulties of building small businesses when real or threatened violence can disrupt business growth cycles and economic security. Alongside establishing secure institutions, building a secure economy is rightly seen as the best way for conflict-torn regions to establish a peaceful future. But current agricultural entrepreneurship training and development starts from an assumption of peace, meaning that it is not always fit for purpose. The result is sub-optimal program design and inefficient use of resources. A product of a collaboration of experts in the fields of agri-business, agricultural marketing, and international development, this book gives officials and agencies developing entrepreneurship programs the practical real-life examples they need.

This manual is specifically designed to help train actual and potential farm mechanization service providers, in order to increase access to sustainable farm power to raise the productivity of smallholder farmers. It focuses on two crucial aspects: the provision of farm mechanization services as a viable business opportunity for entrepreneurs, and the essential criteria of raising productivity in an environmentally sensitive and responsible way i.e. that includes conservation agriculture. Practical guidance on the essential business development and management skills required to successfully run a mechanization service provision business are presented, with a focus on the equipment required to offer services compatible with conservation agriculture. The manual will be of particular interest to policymakers’ intent on achieving sustainable intensification in the agricultural sector. It is also a valuable resource for trainers charged with increasing the supply of well-trained and well-equipped entrepreneurial mechanization service providers through the implementation of training courses tailored to the specific course locations.

The ability and propensity of farmers to engage in entrepreneurial behaviors is a key explanation of the different patterns of responses within the sector. The book usually focuses on how the challenges of startup agribusinesses can be overcome in a cost and time effective manner. The book will prove to be a facilitating guide for everyone in startup agripreneurship community. The purpose of this book is to provide a better understanding of the concept and practice of entrepreneurship.

The present book is a product of many brains, most of whom have practically been facilitators of agri entrepreneurship in one way or the other. The book will be helpful to aspiring and budding entrepreneurs who want to make it big in agri-preneurship. The book mainly focuses on how the challenges of startup agribusinesses can be overcome in a cost and time effective manner. The book will prove to be a facilitating campanion for everyone in startup agri-preneurship fraternity.