Creating Sustainable Businesses in the Knowledge Economy An infoDev, Finland, Nokia Partnership Program

Agribusiness Entrepreneurship
A thriving and competitive indigenous agribusiness sector relies on an eco-system of flourishing and innovative enterprises. Good infrastructure, effective policies and regulations, and access to appropriate financing are essential. Just as important are the skills and know-how to successfully develop and apply innovative methods. Many of the needs of agribusiness entrepreneurs can be met by proper business incubation. They need advice on business development and management, marketing and market linkages, access to finance and regulatory requirements, as well as quality and safety standards. They also need access to proper equipment and maintenance services. Finally, entrepreneurs trying to bring new technology to market need to know how to assess market feasibility, raise investment capital, and market a technology. With these needs in mind, the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland, the Nokia Corporation, and infoDev have partnered to create the Creating Sustainable Businesses in the Knowledge Economy program. One of this programs main tracks is to support Innovation and ICT in Agribusiness, especially when strengthening the productive capacity of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Africa, Asia, and Eastern Europe and Central Asia. The agribusiness program leverages infoDevs expertise in business incubation and strengthening innovation systems, along with its global network of more than 300 business incubators, of which around 60 target the agricultural sector.
Browse our interactive map of agribusiness incubators at www.infodev.org/idisc.

Building Local Capacity to Enable Growth of Innovative SMEs

PROGRAM GOALS
1. 2. 3. Increase opportunies to create sustainable income. Increase agricultural productivity and competitiveness. Increase the proportion of the price paid by end-consumer that is retained by developing countries for products they produce, for instance by increasing market access and efficiencies along the value chain and expanding local value added agro-processing.

The agribusiness program is focused on enabling innovative agribusiness entrepreneurs that: Provide inputs to primary producers in the form of goods and services.

Add value to primary products (i.e agro-processors) and play a catalytic role in terms of enhancing efficiency,

Program Components

Efficiency

Agribusiness Entrepreneurship Technology Innovation Incubation

Competitiveness

AGRIBUSINESS ENTREPRENEURSHIP IN AFRICA Feasibility assessments and business models for Agribusiness Innovation and Entrepreneurship Centers are being developed in Senegal, Mozambique, Tanzania, and Kenya using a participatory approach and engaging entrepreneurs, industry leaders, academia, and local governments. ASSESSMENT OF GLOBAL GOOD PRACTICES IN AGRIBUSINESS INCUBATION A comprehensive assessment of global practices in agribusiness incubation has been created using initiatives in Malaysia, Indonesia, India, Chile, Mexico, Brazil, South Africa, Uganda, and Mozambique as case studies. The assessment has yielded an actionable report for developing countries looking into using incubation as a potential tool to stimulate value added agribusiness SMEs. AGRIBUSINESS GLOBAL COMMUNITY OF PRACTICE infoDev has a peer-to-peer Community of Practice amongst agribusiness entrepreneurship stakeholders, facilitating the sharing of lessons learned and good practices. In addition, infoDev is in the process of identifying successful, innovative agribusiness SMEs with internationalization potentials that will benefit from infoDevs international incubation program and motivate further business creation. To join infoDevs Agribusiness Global Community of Practice, please e-mail idisc@infodev.org. AGRIBUSINESS INCUBATION TRAINING MODULE To be piloted at the 4th Global Forum on Innovation & Technology Entrepreneurship, infoDev has developed a training module on agribusiness incubation for incubation managers and stakeholders interested in designing new agribusiness incubators or strengthening an existing one. The module is a specialized add-on to infoDevs state-of-the-art Business Incubation Training Toolkit. To learn more about infoDevs business incubation training program, visit us at www.infodev.org/idisc.
For more information on this program, please visit infoDevs Agribusiness Program at www.infodev.org/agribusiness or contact us by email at info@infodev.org. For more information on the World Bank Agriculture and Rural Development program, visit www.worldbank.org/ard.

THE WORLD BANK

Training