Short course: Organised Farmers as Partners in Agribusiness – 2018 (Wageningen, the Netherlands, 17 September – 5 October)

Can farmers improve their income and well-being through effective collective action? Join the course and take home many practical tools and approaches for promoting farmer entrepreneurship and strengthening famers’ organisations that aim to arrive at farmer-inclusive agribusiness development.

Improving farmers’ performance and business relations

This course perceives farmers as autonomous entrepreneurs and their organisations as farmers’ business organisations. Both operate in dynamic market systems and have to deal with a range of public and private sector players, such as sourcing companies, banks and MFI’s, agro-input dealers, research, extension and others. The central question of the course is how farmers can improve their income and well-being through effective collective action of their organisations and improved relations with other stakeholders.

Upon completion of the course you will:

• be familiar with state-of-the-art thinking about farmer entrepreneurship, famers' organisations and inclusive value chain development;
• perceive 'problems' as 'opportunities to approve';
• consider alternative intervention strategies to support farmers and their organisations;
• be capable of using operational approaches and practical tools for facilitating collective action and market engagement of farmers' organisations in your professional work context;

For more information and fellowship opportunities:

https://www.wur.nl/en/Expertise-Services/Research-Institutes/centre-for-development-innovation/short-courses/Short_courses_2018/CDIcourse_OPPO_2018.htm