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1. If multi-nationals can do it,
why can't we? International farm consultant
Robert Napier believes we can, and we must.
Working together, building alliances..it's
the only way we'll make it. That was the key
message from Australian educator and consultant
Robert Napier.
But it's a hard pill to swallow, admits Napier
who has worked with farm families for over
30 years and has never met people more independent
than farmers. "That quality is deadly
in the current environment," he warns.
Why bother with an alliance? There are several
compelling reasons. Among them: improved purchasing
power; marketing power; increased size and
all the advantages that entails; and improved
ability to cope with the explosion in information.
That's not all. "There's also risk management.
Companies are less vulnerable when they work
together."
Napier pointed to Tanzania, where he's from.
"There, farmers negotiate prices as a
group and have done very well."
In addition to alliances, he encourages farmers
to lease land and contract our various services
so they are not "limited by their assets."
Expansion also means diversifying, because,
as Napier explains, "It's really household
income that counts in the end."
If you're considering diversification, he
urges you to look seriously at services such
as consulting and agri-tourism "because
your costs are so much lower compared to production
businesses."
Napier himself has jumped into the service
business recently starting a bed and breakfast
with his wife. The challenge now is to make
the business professional but the important
thing was to start, because as he says, "isolation
in a rural area is no excuse for not diversifying." |
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 Consultant
Robert Napier
Director,
Napier Agrifutures
Australian educator and consultant
Robert Napier has worked with farm
families all around the world for
over 30 years, focusing on issues
of change and strategies that farm
families can use to seize opportunities
and achieve their goals.
He is particularly interested in strategic
planning, global trends in agri-industry,
human resource management, agribusiness
systems, and the future of family
farming.
Articles
by Robert Napier:
 Robert
Napier says consider services, such
as a bed and breakfast, when expanding
because they are typically less expensive
to start compared to production businesses.
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