Results of the national and EU seminars

The ideas elaborated in the national stakeholder seminars in particular were very diverse and detailed. In the following they are clustered in accordance with the main results of the main stage. The last section of this subchapter is dedicated to recommendations aimed directly at specific actor groups in the socio-technical network of farmers.

The recommendations in this chapter are mainly a list of ideas regarding how the insights of the EsoF project can be applied directly. The synthesis chapter of this report is dedicated to placing these ideas within the context of the project as a whole.

Changing perspectives, or entrepreneurial learning principles

The first main result of the main stage was that, from the farmers’ point of view, entrepreneurial skills are developed through learning. Learning happens through a change of perspective, and a change of perspective is initiated when farmers are confronted with new ideas or different ways of doing things.

This result prompted many remarks and ideas from the workshop participants, which can be summarised as principles of entrepreneurial learning:

Enhancing the farmer’s own experience and the possibility of trial and error learning opportunities: this gives the farmer the opportunity to try out new ways of thinking and acting, but in a learning atmosphere where the risk of failure is not as great as in ‘real’ life

Exchange of experience and learning from examples of success and failure: hearing about what others are doing (especially farmers) enhances one’s own view. It also brings the possibility of benefiting from others’ experiences

In terms of entrepreneurial principles: farmers should be addressed in the same way as other entrepreneurs, i.e. farmers should be exposed to knowledge and experience from other (non-farming) industries

People working with farmers (e.g. advisors, teachers, …) should seek to coach farmers by applying the above mentioned principles, in addition to giving specific advice concerning concrete tasks.

A number of ideas were mentioned in the workshops regarding how to apply these principles. Some of them are listed here:

· Organise mini-enterprises

· Peer group activities with entrepreneurs

· Special theme-based working groups

· Support of exchange programmes for farmers: opportunities for exchange can be organized with farmers in foreign countries or through work exchanges with industries other than farming.

· Support travel programmes for farmers

The role of networks and contacts as support factors to initiate a change of perspectives

The conclusions from the main stage contained the further finding that, through contacts within and beyond the farming community, it is very likely that farmers will be confronted with new ideas and with different ways of doing things. Therefore, encouraging farmers’ networks and contacts is one good way to foster the development of entrepreneurial skills .

The recommendations and ideas elaborated by workshop participants in the synthesis stage can be expressed in terms of the following principles with regard to encouraging networks and contacts:

Exchange of experience, as described above, is one positive way in which farmers can broaden their contacts

Encouraging contacts between farmers and members of the non-farming community. Mailfert (2007) states that start-up farmers with a non-farming background have larger and more heterogeneous networks (and also a higher percentage of ‘weak ties’). The main stage revealed that diversified farmers are more likely to have contacts and networks in the non-farming community.

The important role of networks is confirmed by Mailfert (2007). She studied the importance of networks for start-up farmers and explicitly recommends: ‘Don’t just teach entrepreneurial skills – integrate networks into training programmes with accessible role models, make networking-friendly environments a priority’.

Further examples of how to encourage networks and contacts of farmers that were mentioned by workshop participants include the following:

Facilitate the possibility of meeting customers (e.g. direct selling is a good opportunity)

Extension opportunities and tools for groups. E.g. the self-assessment tool of ESoF has been designed in such a way that it can also be used in groups and not just for farmers on the internet. Another example is thematic peer groups or ‘academies’, as applied in CH or NL. Here, it is important that the leaders of the groups are trained in entrepreneurial learning principles.

Support meetings between (young) farmers and strategic national and international partners

Support co-operatives between farmers as one kind of network

Farmers playing an active role in learning entrepreneurial skills: how can they be motivated?

The main stage concluded that the farmer is the crucial, autonomous actor and that learning both depends on his activity and demands it. Thus, the question of how to motivate farmers to take action and actively seek to improve their skills was a major discussion point in the national workshops as well.

The recommendations and ideas of workshop participants can be summarised in terms of principles aimed at motivating farmers to use education and extension opportunities concerning entrepreneurial skills or other modes of learning:

Stimulate farmers’ interest in entrepreneurship issues in general. This could be done by demonstrating the advantages of having entrepreneurial skills, for example using stories of successful entrepreneurs. Another way of sensitising farmers is to introduce the subject of entrepreneurship by guiding discussions carefully from production issues to entrepreneurial issues.

Create an entrepreneurship-friendly regional and national (EU-wide) culture. In general, the point of view of entrepreneurship should be at the centre of policies and stategies for agriculture in order to encourage the development of farming businesses (growth, specialisation, diversification, etc.).

Create a system of subsidies/payments which is coupled with business management conditions (eg. support for farmers with a clear business strategy, etc.) and couple monetary incentives with requirements for (entrepreneurial) education.

Further examples mentioned by the workshop participants regarding how to motivate farmers include:

· focusing on practical problems of the farmers and introducing the new perspective of entrepreneurship, e.g. management training that makes the connection between daily work and further development of the farm as well as change processes in general

· promotional activities for entrepreneurship: TV show in which good entrepreneurial ideas are rewarded

· credit notes for special education offers

· financial support for young farmers or retiring farmers, or for farmers with a clear business strategy

· grant subsidies for investments only when a sound business plan exists.