The Relevance and Usefulness of Farm Business Management in Enhancing Small Farmer Income in the South Pacific: Report on Farm Business Training in the South Pacific

Abstract

The ways in which smallholders in developing countries plan their farm operations and manage the farm business have come under scrutiny in recent years. The traditional production orientation of farm management training has been considered inadequate in an era of increasing commercialization of smallholder farming. As a consequence, the provision of a broader set of business advisory services has emerged to complement this production orientation. Entrepreneurial skills and attitudes towards business plans have been identified as key contributors to both a sustainable commercial farm operation and to general economic growth in rural areas. An implication of this assessment is that inadequate entrepreneurial and business planning skills can prevent smallholders in developing countries from participating successfully in free-market transactions and contract farming. Responsibility for the traditional farm management training and extension approach lay chiefly with government ministries/departments of agriculture until the 1980s. Growing concern about the ineffectiveness of this approach and an inability of these ministries/departments to provide adequate agribusiness advice led some donors to extend their funding arrangements to non-government organizations (NGOs) and the private sector. Currently, the need to redefine the public sector advisory services in line with the changing needs of farmers is recognized as a major task for governments. ... In this study, we attempt to answer the following questions in respect of South Pacific agriculture: • What farm business management advice and training do farmers really need? • How relevant and useful are the concepts and techniques transmitted to smallholders in developing their farm business management skills? • To what extent do training and decision support services help farmers to manage their businesses more profitably'? • What topics of farm business management should be included in future training workshops and field-level extension work?