Project Description

The National Federation of Farmers contracted EPI CENTAR for advisory consulting services, as an activity in the implementation of the pilot intervention "Increasing market access to processed products from the market" within the market " links for small farmers and producers from rural areas in order to increase income ”financially supported by the Swedish development organization We effect and SIDA.

The purpose of the contract were advisory-consulting services that were realized through a team of experts for preparation of business plan of agricultural holding, preparation of contracts for contract production, technologist for improved recipe for production of homemade apple juice, agronomist for improvement of production practices and farm accounting

Outcome 1: Rural enterprises, small farmers/producers, grow and provide more income and employment opportunities for the people from the rural area, women, and youth in particular. The focus here will facilitate access to the market for actors that empower rural women and youth. Currently, market linkages for sales of products are broken for small farmers/produces, leading to low income of the rural target group, pushing them into poverty.      

Outcome 2:  Increased organizational capacities and financial sustainability of NFF. As a membership-based organization, NFF represents the interests of farmers and the rural population in the country. The focus here is the organizational development and financial sustainability as crucial to continue with the lobby and advocacy activities and develop new services to provide new sources of income.

EPICENTAR performed the following activities:

1. Preparation of a business plan
   Aimed to explain the idea, marketing plan and related activities for promotion and advertising, production details, necessary equipment, to show the financial viability (revenue and costs), the people who will be involved in the production and distribution channels.
2. Contract production and farm cost records
   Prepared a presentation on contract production and also prepared a model of a contract for contract production and sale and purchase of apples for industrial processing.
3. Improving production practices – agronomist
   Visit to apple orchards, holding two trainings for orchard farmers
4. Production of apple fruit juice
   Two visits for exchange of experiences, factory visit for production of fruit juices.

2. Farm accounting training

Educational meeting on farm records within the intervention "Increased access to the apple processing market" implemented by the National Federation of Farmers (NFF), within the project "Organizational development of the NFF and improved market connections for small farmers and producers of food from rural areas in order to increase income", supported by the Swedish development organization We Effect and Sida. Keeping accounting records on a farm means recording all production and financial data on the activities that take place on the farm during a production year.

With farm records, it is possible to monitor the inflow and outflow of money, to enable the calculation of profit or loss from the operation of the farm, the farmer must know how much he owes and how much others owe him, to plan agricultural production, to plans to purchase the necessary inputs and realize the sale of its products, the record is the basic documentation when preparing a loan application. Through the records, the value of the farm can be estimated.

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