BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT SERVICES
Business development services refer to all financial and non-financial support that an individual farmer or a small- or medium-sized agricultural enterprise needs to:
- Innovate, produce and market a particular product.
- Increase access to markets, revenue, profitability and productivity.
- Forecast, manage and mitigate risks.
- Add value to or diversify production.
As formal markets expand through globalization and major companies extend their sourcing reach into local farming communities, there has been a rise in opportunities for smallholders to become suppliers of large corporate buyers. This association can be through direct sales or through aggregators or intermediaries who sell into the formal system. In the context of increasingly globalized markets, smallholder producers, for example can now access and compete on an entirely new level.
Miramar Foundation’s Key business development services support the core market chain actors and the commercial functions they carry out. The types of services that a business needs include market access support (e.g., identification of markets, facilitation of relationships, contract negotiation), infrastructure (e.g., transport, communication, warehousing), training, technology, input supplies and finance. For example, producer groups may need advice and assistance in becoming organic or Fair Trade certified, they may require working capital at the start of the harvest season to pay farmers in advance, or they may need to build silos for storage or facilities for processing and packaging. Business development services are essential for helping the core chain actors build and grow their businesses and are often critical in driving competitiveness and sustainability of actors within value chains.
Core market chain activities include the principle actors, such as farmers, processors and traders, who perform the functions required to produce and market an agricultural product. After production, each actor physically sells or buys the product, and the functions they perform are considered a business enterprise. In this first dimension, the number of actors can range from 2 or 3 to 10 or 15 separate entities spanning multiple transactions. A value chain can be local—when farmers sell to nearby traders and retailers—but with modern market chain management, many value chains span countries and continents.
Challenges with supply availability, consistency and quality when working with smallholder farmers increase the importance of partnership and co-investment to ensure that the trade is well structured and that producers are capable of reaching market specifications. When successful, such partnerships can reduce risks for all parties and gradually build mutual trust. This process of inclusive, chain-wide dialogue is increasingly visible in a growing number of sustainability programs.
BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT STRUCTURE
Miramar Foundation’s process of designing, implementing and improving the provision of business development services is structured around various stages.
The Training Phase
The MIC Hydroponics Program kicks off with training. There are 2 parts of the training, Practical Training and Theoretical Training. In the Theoretical Training the beneficiaries are taught the Science of Hydroponics, and Greenhouse Technology. In the Practical Training, the beneficiaries have the opportunity to put in practice learnt skill. The beneficiaries have access to MIC’s demonstration Hydroponics farms. Here the beneficiaries are exposed to the real processes of hydroponics farming
The MIC training method is competence based in which acquisition and subsequent application of skills is the core emphasis during training. In this project MIC, will deliver both technical and life skills training to the project beneficiaries
To do this, MIC will employ active training methods. This implementation approach is founded on two philosophies; One, that learning is an active endeavour and Two, different learners have different ways of learning. Therefore, the purpose of this methodology is to involve participants in the learning process through theoretical and practical technical training, case studies, role-plays, instructional games, simulations, writing tasks and other experiential activities.
The theoretical and practical vocational training will give the scholars a set of skills that they can apply. Research has proven that active training methods boost acquisition and retention of knowledge and skills. In addition, this methodology results in higher levels of reasoning, frequent generation of new ideas and solutions and greater transfer of what is learned from one situation to another.
More specifically, the approach will be skewed towards cooperative learning founded on the premise that people learn best in groups. Training sessions will be organized in groups that simulate real world scenarios found in work set-ups and businesses. Through these learning groups, they will be exposed to situations simulating life lessons such as interdependence, conflict and change.
MIC will employ a meticulous approach in delivery; sessions will be planned and taught by skilled trainers who will take on the position of a coach and mentor.
Real world application is the key outcome of this training method. Learners will be able to simulate real life situations when learning new concepts and skills. They will draft individual action plans, compelling them to think creatively about how they will apply their learning in the real world. This will strengthen scholars’ ability to transition to higher education, employment and enterprise.
Class Size: A typical MIC class has 40 students. This number is able to facilitate effective interaction between the trainer and the trainee. We have a large pool of trainers; hence can be able to manage large numbers of classes simultaneously.
The Agribusiness Training Program course is a NITA (National Industrial Training Authority) approved course. MIC has the authority to examine and issue certificates on the program. Under the number NITA/levy/retai/1167.
The success rate of the program is around 87%. The program is designed and tested with appropriations of 30% theory and 70% practical.
This program is ideal for beneficiaries who have at-least a Primary School Education. This gives them basic ability to read and write. The Youth and Vulnerable in the society are a key target for MIC. This is because they are more often than not disenfranchised from their ability to create a livelihood. This program gives then an ability to both feed themselves and generate income for themselves
The training takes a period of 3 months. This training is 30% theoretical and 70% practical.
The training costs Ksh 75,000 per beneficiary.
The Incubation Phase
The incubation phase of the program has 2 main components
- Set Up Of Greenhouses
- Business Development Support
The Set Up of Greenhouses.
Upon completion of training, it will be time for the beneficiaries to put their skills to actual test in a real life environment. Set up of hydroponics greenhouses is however an extremely technical endeavor, hence MIC will be there to hand hold the beneficiaries through this journey.
The beneficiary’s knowledge during the Training phase will be put to bare during this phase.
MIC will also support the beneficiaries in determining appropriate crops for the various hydroponics systems.
Agri-Business Development Support
Upon completion of training the beneficiaries are trained on Agri-Business. This is to enable them to be Agribusiness business survey. We learnt that many farmers do not get maximum returns for their investment because they do not have sufficient business acumen to get the best utility for their produce.
In this component we practically support the beneficiaries in marketing, Contract law, bookkeeping and basic management, of their farming ventures
The Maturity Phase- Access to Markets
In the conduct of the programs, MIC discovered that among the challenges faced by farmers is acquisition of market. MIC took it upon herself to pursue off-take market for our beneficiaries.
Recently MIC has market from San-Valencia Hotels Group, a leading Hotel Chain, Tuskys Supermarket, Currently the largest supermarkets in the country, 2 of the largest farmers markets, Healthy U, a leading healthy food chain. MIC has also acquired supply contracts in foreign markets in Bahrain and Dubai
Our beneficiaries have the option of supplying produce to MIC , to take advantage of the great bargain of prices from MICs’ Off-taker contracts
Priority setting and planning.
Priority setting refers to the services themselves as well as the target groups of service users and providers. This stage begins with conducting a diagnostic study to establish a baseline understanding of service supply and demand, and the context in which the services will be performed. This context may relate to a geographical area or community, or to a specific commodity or value chain.
Implementation.
In the implementation stage, the plans developed are carried out to meet the agreed objectives, based on the priorities, service deficiencies and opportunities identified.
Monitoring, evaluation and learning.
Given the balance between core chain actors and service providers, it is critical that monitoring and evaluation systems are in place to capture and track both sets of stakeholders during implementation. Feedback from performance monitoring enables the actors involved to modify and refine service delivery and to ensure sustainability during and after the project. Precise monitoring also provides accountability to stakeholders in the process, including donors, government agencies, private sector partners and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs). Lastly, documentation and dissemination is essential to scaling up successful approaches and ensuring that project learning goes beyond individual interventions.
Key Challenges for Business Development Services
- The skills, resources and assets to produce agricultural crops and livestock that meet certain quality requirements, or specifications and volume demands in a profitable and environmentally sustainable way.
- Access to services that support their growth and the growth of other enterprises along the chain.
- Continual reinforcement of trust, communication and commitment between the farmers and other actors along the chain, often referred to as trading relationships.
- Modification or removal of onerous policies, tariff and non-tariff barriers, and other obstacles that impede commercial transactions.