Increasing the effectiveness of assisting farmers with sustainable on-farm enterprise

View the project final report

Commodities

Practices

• Education and Training: technical assistance, decision support system, farmer to farmer, networking, participatory research
• Farm Business Management: new enterprise development, budgets/cost and returns, feasibility study, agricultural finance, market study, risk management, value added, whole farm planning
• Sustainable Communities: new business opportunities, partnerships, analysis of personal/family life, employment opportunities, social networks

Many public agencies and sustainable agriculture organizations in the South are providing technical assistance to farmers in the development of sustainable on-farm enterprises. Yet assistance in this field is still relatively new, with many gaps in research and information exchange. This planning project will bring some of the major assistance providers together to compare experiences, and prioritize research and education needs. This project will also create a core team to develop future collaborative research projects, and make recommendations for better ways to network among ourselves and transfer information on innovative assistance programs that work.

1. Exchange program approaches, successes, models, and barriers among assistance providers working with farmers on aspects of sustainable enterprise development. Develop a prioritized list of research and information needs among assistance providers to make their assistance more effective. Develop a commitment from a core group to pursue projects that will carry out some of the most important research and strategies for delivering needed information. Develop and submit at least one funding proposal to accomplish needed research and education.