7 Key Trainers from Bulgaria, Cyprus, Greece, Italy and the UK participated in the 2004 Study Tours for the AGROPLAN project, which took place in Italy and the UK. The Key Trainers have an agronomy and economics background and work for agricultural research, education or consulting institutions from the public and private sector.
The 2004 Study Tours were aimed at enhancing the Key Trainers’ knowledge and skills in the areas of farm management and entrepreneurship for the farming sector. The Key Trainers will, at a later stage of the project, act as multipliers of knowledge to other trainers in their countries. Most farming sector extension and education service personnel have a technical background, therefore the introduction of the managerial and entrepreneurship concepts is essential in order to enhance their effectiveness. Visits to a total of 8 rural enterprises in Italy, and 12 in the UK, were used to cover the Agroplan Project’s 7 thematic areas :
1. Methods of organising and operating agricultural enterprises; production planning techniques.
2. Agricultural products Marketing, Trading and Promotion.
3. Farm expansion, vertical integration and diversification activities e.g. processing, trading, rural tourism, exploitation of abandoned farm buildings (for the construction of hostels, conference centres etc.)
4. Application of agri-environmental measures, such as: maintenance and conservation of biodiversity, cultivation practices for the protection of birds, organic farming, organic livestock production, renewable sources of energy.
5. Various forms of farmers’ association in producer groups, several types of cooperatives for promotion, trading, agencies for equipment provision and consulting services.
6. Production quality assurance with the use of produce traceability systems, certification, HACCP standard etc.
7. Added value and value creation through vertical integration of farm retailing activities, such as farm shops.
The Key Trainers attending, made notes of issues and facts of interest in a special case study template. This collection of issues and facts resulted in the creation of 20 case studies, focusing on the seven thematic areas mentioned above. The case studies will be included in the relevant section of the Training Manual under development. |
