Agriculture As A Business Curriculum

I have been talking about the AAB Curriculum in a very general way and several people have asked me for more details and here they are as best I can.

There are eight main points that comprise the Curriculum. The content of the curriculum has been put onto 8 cards containing pictures, stories and questions that the AEA can use to facilitate Farmer Group (FG) learning. Several AEAs have expressed frustration with teaching business skills to their farmer groups, they say that they tell their FGs what to do, but their groups don’t do it. Sound familiar? Who likes being told what to do. These teaching methods remind me of many teaching methods that I learned about while doing my Bachelor of Education two years ago.
My purpose in all of this is to be available to AEAs who would like to use this resource in their extension work. I do not teach the Curriculum. I go to FG meetings to help the AEA if they want any help and to provide feedback whenever possible. I have one AEA who is halfway done the program (she did this with Aaron over the summer) and I am starting fresh with several AEAs. I will not be able to finish the curriculum with these groups but there will be another volunteer available to the AEA after I leave and if I do my job properly the AEAs will be comfortable enough with the Curriculum to feel comfortable using it on their own.

The focus of this curriculum is two fold-
1.) To help farmer groups see farming as a business and as a way to make money. This is done by facilitating group learning rather than telling them groups what to do.
2.) To help AEAs strengthen farmer groups by giving them a resource and a structured way to facilitate learning.

With these two goals in mind, the eight topics that comprise the curriculum are described below, along with the expected output and outcome of each card:
1.) Group Strengths
Helps the group realize how strong they are and what they can do to become stronger.

Output: Group aware of their strengths and has a positive vision for the group.
Outcome: The group is making changes to help themselves and not just to keep their AEA happy.

2.) Group Meetings
Helps the group realize how important good group meetings are and what they can do to have more effective meetings.

Output: The group comes out with a plan that has them meeting in a way to suit their needs.
Outcome: The changes the group makes in group meetings are sustained has the group running productive meetings that help the group move forward.

3.) Finances
Finances are so important in groups of all sorts, especially farmer groups who often lack collateral and access to loans that may be required to grow a business. When the group finds a way to manage their finances, they become a lot more attractive to banks and lenders and people who are selling what they might want to buy.

Output: The group comes out with a plan that has them using group finances in a way to suit their needs.
Outcome: The changes the group makes in group finances are sustained has the group using finances to help the group move forward.

4.) Group Project
Often times the farmer groups have a lot of project ideas that they would like to do, this helps the group focus in on one project and helps them plan to make one of their dreams become a reality rather than talking about a lot of different ideas and not taking any action towards accomplishing any of them.

Output: The group comes out with a project that they can do that will put more money into all their pockets.
Outcome: The group project should help the group develop momentum. Through the experience the group will learn that they can design and implement a project that takes advantage of their strengths and opportunities.

5.) Business Plan
This allows the group a structure way to think about their group project, what exactly will they do to get from point A to point B. It makes sure they consider their profit (expenses and income) before continueing with a project. These help them learn basic cost analysis skills and to see the importance of performing one before attempting a project.

Output: The group comes out with a business plan that is well-thought out and considers profitability and risk.
Outcome: Farmers start to use planning as a way to think critically about their business and when making decisions.

6.) Record keeping
Helps the group come up with a method that they would like to use to keep records of their projects and actions.

Output: The group comes out with a way to keep records that suits their needs.
Outcome: In order for the group to sustain the behaviour of record keeping they need to use the records to evaluate profit and help them make business decisions. This occurs in Card #8.

7.) Marketing
When you’re producing something, the success of your business depends on being able to sell what you make. Being able to sell something is dependent on marketing – who are you selling to? Who would you like to sell to? What are ways to ensure that someone is going to buy your product? Often times, the farmers will work individually and then bring their product to the market and all sit in the market selling their goods. Imagine if one person brought the goods to the markets and other were able to continue working on the group project. Or if they were able to practice economy of scale?

Output: The group comes out with a plan to do marketing in a way that will increase their power in the market.
Outcome: The changes the group makes in how they market brings them more profit and has the group realize that if they work in a group they can improve their marketing.

8.) Evaluation of Project
This card goes through a series of questions to help farmers evaluate their business actions and to make changes for the next years to increase their product.

Output: Group evaluates their project and uses this information to continue moving forward.
Outcome: The group sees the value of business planning, recording and evaluating to help them have farming agriculture as a way to provide sustainably for their family.