SESSION 1:

RATIONALE OF A FARM BUSINESS SCHOOL AND DEVELOPING GROUP OWNERSHIP

OBJECTIVES:

At the end of this session the participants shall have:

1. Discussed the meaning and importance of the FBS;

2. Described the benefits of FBS for participating group members; and

3. Listed the meetings schedule, norms or ground rules for a more effective and sustainable

implementation of the FBS.

PREPARATIONS BEFORE THE START OF THE FBS MEETING

Visit each farmer who was invited and make sure that they will remember the date and place of the FBS

Interview farmer (baseline survey)

Invite special someone in gracing the opening program

MEETING DAY

Opening Program

Levelling of Expectations

Host Team Formation

Norm Setting

Election of Class Officer

OPENING PROGRAM

Prayer

National Anthem

Acknowledgement of Participants and Guests

Welcome Remarks

Message

Overview of the Activity

LEVELLING OF EXPECTATIONS

Training Course

Resource Speakers

Training Management

Co-participants

HOST TEAM FORMATION

Group the participants into four making sure that each group has at least one literate member

Think of a name for each group

Brief them regarding responsibilities of the host team

NORMS/ AGREEMENTS

Schedule of meetings i.e frequency of meetings, day/s of the week, timing

Venue

Ground Rules/ Norms a. Support your own FBS Who can provide what?

b. Ground Rules for FBS

FBS MEETING SCHEDULE

Session Topic Date Time Venue

1 Rationale of Farm Business School and Developing Group Ownership

2 Farming as a Business

3 The farmer as an Entrepreneur and Farm Business Profitability

4 Assessing Current Farm Situation and Translating Analysis into Action

5 Understanding Enterprise Profitability

6 Understanding Marketing and Markets

7 Presenting the Market Survey Report and Developing a Vision and Goal for the Farm

8 Choosing an Enterprise

9 Components of a Farm Business Plan: Farm Production and Marketing Plan

Part I : Diagnosing and Planning

FARM BUSINESS SCHOOL MEETING SCHEDULE

Session

Topic Date

Time Venue

10 Components of a Farm Business Plan: Profitability, Cash Flow and Availability, and Risks

11 Preparing an Action Plan

12 Overview of record keeping

13 Practice of keeping farm business records

FARM BUSINESS SCHOOL MEETING SCHEDULE

Session

Topic Date

Time Venue

14 Agreeing on sessions and schedule; Mobilizing Finance

15 Group Marketing, Buying and Saving

16 Understanding Contract Farming and Appraisal

17 Assessing and managing business risks

18 Benchmarking

19 Characteristics of an Effective Entrepreneur

20 Value Addition

Part 2: Implementing

FARM BUSINESS SCHOOL MEETING SCHEDULE

Session Topic Date Time Venue

21 Assessing the Benefits of the Farm Business School

22 Assessing the Performance of a Farm Business Plan

23 Choosing Farm Enterprise for the Next Season

24 Preparing a Farm Business Plan

25 Developing an Action Plan

Part 3: Evaluating and Re-Planning

ACTIVITIES EVERY SESSION

Prayer Recapitulation Energizer Scheduled Topic Evaluation (What went well and what went

wrong) Planning for the Next Meeting

EVALUATION

What went well What went wrong

ACTIVITY 1:OVERVIEW OF FBS

Group the participants Ask them to discuss the following questions:

1. What do you understand by a Farm Business School?

2. What do you think is the purpose and advantages of a Farm Business School?

3. What is the difference of Farm Business School as compared to other training program for farmers?

Present each group output

THANK YOU!!!