A lot is being said these days about farmers becoming ‘agripreneurs’.
There are two parts to agripreneurship. The first is the managerial skills needed to start and run a profitable farm business. The second is ‘entrepreneurial spirit’. Both are important. Managerial skills can be taught, but an entrepreneurial spirit cannot be taught. Many farmers are already excellent managers and many also have some of the spirit of an entrepreneur. As ‘price takers’ many farmers have developed outstanding abilities to make the most of their resources. But being ‘price takers’ suggests that these farmers are not innovative, do not take risks, and lack the drive that is usually associated with an entrepreneurial spirit.
After couple of months of interviewing small holder farmers in various geographies our team have concluded that the most important factor which transforms a farmer into an agripreneurs is him getting the right price for his farm products, which are consistent and transparent. Hence, Integra Farm Fourth was conceptualized by World Chamber for Social Business. It will be a web portal for our small holder farmer to get access to information, prices and buyers for their farm produce.
Integra Farm Fourth will provide a platform for buyers and sellers to conduct business of their agricultural products. Once established the commodity exchange will reduce transaction costs, by accommodating people active in the production, trade, processing and consumption of commodities.
About World Chamber For Social Business
World Chamber for Social Business is a non-political, non-governmental and non-profit institution which is committed to provide a platform for the social businesses globally. As the world’s first chamber for social business our vision is to help informal sector businesses to be organized businesses and to achieve our Global Goals through social business.
Our focus is Agriculture, since, majority of our world population is engaged in agriculture and majority of them are in informal agriculture.
Integra Farm Fourth is an agricultural commodity Exchange and its evolution as an innovation platform, as the portal will not only create information access to our farmers but also bring direct buyers to the farmer through the virtual trading platform and giving farmers a choice and access to extension services which he may require to farm efficiently.
Integra Farm Fourth is a project conceptualized by WCSB with the objective to facilitate better market access for our farmers. Smallholders without access to warehousing were forced to choose between accepting low prices in order to quickly sell or suffering significant post-harvest losses in exchange for selling at higher prices.
The Phase wise evolution of Integra Farm Fourth:
Phase 1
Phase 2
