Welcome to the GFRAS e-discussion on agripreneurship and RAS!

Thank you very much for an inspiring discussion!!!

Dear participants,

With your last very interesting conclusion points we close this e-discussion. We have very much appreciated your active participation, engagement, and your enriching and enlightening inputs over the past two weeks. We hope you enjoyed the discussions as much as we did!

In the coming weeks, the secretariat will make a summary of the issues that were mentioned in this e-discussion and share it on this website and also with the participants at the GFRAS Annual Meeting. Based on the discussions at the Annual Meeting, this summary will then be refined to eventually inform a GFRAS knowledge product. During this process, we might come back to some or all of you for a review, further inputs, or even another e-discussion to finalise the product.

Many thanks again to all for being part of this process, and warmest regards,

Your moderators,

Alexandra and Natalie

E-Discussion

Want to learn more about the topic "The Role of Rural Advisory Services for Inclusive Agripreneurship"? Read about the preparatory e-discussion on the topic below, which will be held from 23 August - 2 September 2016. 

Being a successful agripreneur is easy! Isn't it?

Agriculture today faces many challenges which create both opportunities and risks for farmers. With a growing recognition of the important role of smallholder agriculture for economic growth and rural development, agripreneurship appears more prominently on the agenda.

Or, as Alpha Sennon, young agripreneur from the Caribbean, founder of WhyFarm (http://whyfarmit.com/), and dedicated defender of the idea of agripreneurship says:

a sennon“Farmers have been branded as an “Old Man” working the lanall day, wearing “burst up” clothing, extremely tired because of the hard work. But: in many countries around the world, where there are limited resources available and a high unemployment rate, agripreneurship becomes a viable option. Indeed, starting an agribusiness is not too difficult and agripreneurship can be easily adopted as something you do to survive. 

In today’s world, with the many challenges agripreneurship is facing, agripreneurship becomes a “must”  rather than a “want to”! You can create your own path in feeding your population. And: Entrepreneurship is associated with technology, science, and engineering - why not apply it to agriculture?”

Do you have reasons why you wouldn’t apply entrepreneurship to agriculture? Is agripreneurship really a sustainable solution to address the challenges in agriculture or just yet another catchword promising the solution to the worlds problems? Is it really that easy to become - and succeed - as an agripreneur? And what can RAS do to help farmers, herders, fishermen and women, young and old, to become successful agripreneurs? 

Discuss these questions, find answers, and hear more success stories and lessons learned in the GFRAS Annual Meeting preparatory e-discussion on the role of RAS in agripreneurship from 23 August – 2 September 2016.