Overview:

Agribusiness is a term used to describe the sector that encompasses all economic activities that are related to farming, i.e., chemicals, breeding, crop production/farming, farm machinery, distribution, marketing, and sales. it is a line of business that focuses on the processing, warehousing, distribution, marketing, and retailing of products used in farming. The goal of agribusiness is to improve operations in order to keep prices reasonable. The agri-food chain is one of the world’s largest industries. It involves the delivery of products from farms to worldwide markets.

This course is aimed at improving the agribusiness management capabilities of leaders and managers of producers’ associations as well as those of technicians from government, NGOs, and the private sector, who provide technical assistance to agro-enterprises. It is addressed to small and medium-size producers’ associations with experience in the production and marketing of agricultural products. The course includes five subjects such as agro-food systems and chains, organizational principles for producers’ associations, planning for producers’ associations, and finally post-harvest and marketing. An additional one on business management for small-scale agro-industries is also provided. These modules can be of help to strengthen producers’ and technicians’ capabilities in order to respond better to globalization and cope with the threats of increased competition, but also in order to respond to new market opportunities.

Objectives

By the end of the course you will learn how to:

• Forward planning
• Making policy decisions
• Budgeting and maintaining accurate financial records
• Organising sales and purchases of livestock, farm equipment, crops and agricultural products
• Handling paperwork and keeping administrative records
• Recruiting, training/instructing and supervising farm workers
• Making sure that work progresses satisfactorily
• Ensuring compliance with government regulations and health and safety standards
• Keeping an up-to-date knowledge of pests and diseases
• Ensuring that the farm is profitable and meets projected financial targets
• Advertising and marketing farm products or the work of the farmer.

Course Content

Day 1

Quality management systems;

• Farm planning; Preparing a business plan;
• Integrated production plans.
• Non-Specialist Accounting and Finance
• Marketing and Consumer Behaviour
• Business Economics

Day 2

Agrofood systems and chains

• The agrofood system: a comprehensive overview
• The chain: a feature of the agrofood system
• Agro-industry: strategic component of the agrofood chain

Day 3

Organization principles for producers’ associations

• The Producers’ Association: concepts and traditional legal forms
• Linkages between producers’ associations and other actors in the chain

Day 4

Planning for producers’ associations

• Market knowledge as a basis for planning
• Planning: a key factor for competitiveness
• Conclusions on the case study

Day 5

Post-harvest and marketing

• Post-harvest and distribution
• Quality as a factor of market differentiation
• Exploiting new information and communication technologies
• Capacity building manual – Facilitators’ guide
• In the initial phase
• In the basic phase
• In the practical phase
• In the assessment phase