Objectives

The ESoF project aims at developing the entrepreneurial skills of farmers.

Developing entrepreneurial skills can mean two things: First, to improve the social, economic, political and cultural framework which hinders or stimulates the development of entrepreneurial skills of farmers or, second, to directly influence the farmers and their personalities and capabilities to stimulate the development of entrepreneurship.
If the competitiveness of farming is to be improved by fostering entrepreneurial behaviour of farmers, then both aspects have to be considered.

The overall objective of this project, therefore, is twofold:

1. Identification and analysis of economic, social and cultural factors which hinder or stimulate the development of entrepreneurial skills, reflecting the strategic orientation of the farm
2. Elaboration of strategies and tools to improve these factors for different farming strategies

These objectives are followed on two levels:

• On the level of the political, social, economic and cultural framework
• On the level of personal skills of farmers

To reach these overall objectives, the following aims have to be fulfilled:

1. Definition and relevance of the concept of Entrepreneurship and entrepreneurial skills for agriculture reflecting the strategic orientations of farms
2. Specification of entrepreneurial skills with their social, economic, political and cultural background in selected European countries
3. Identification and analysis of the economic, social and cultural factors hindering and stimulating the development of entrepreneurial skills
4. Elaboration of strategies and tools to overcome barriers and to improve stimulating factors for the development of entrepreneurial skills

More specifically, the necessary steps to achieve these objectives are summarised below:

Ad 1. Definition and relevance of the concept of Entrepreneurship and entrepreneurial skills for agriculture reflecting the strategic orientation of farms

‘Entrepreneurship’ or ‘entrepreneurial skills’ are not precise concepts. Skills, for example, can mean the technical skills of a farmer, his behavioural attributes or the characteristics of the farmer’s personality. In a first step it is therefore necessary to define what the contents of entrepreneurial skills have to be in order to fulfil the overall objectives. This research will initially define what skills and attributes a farmer needs to possess in order to maximise the entrepreneurial capacity of the farm business. Thereby it has to be considered that different farm and non-farm activities might need different kinds of entrepreneurial skills. The objective therefore, is to establish a theoretical segmentation model which reflects the entrepreneurial skills necessary for different farm strategies.

Ad 2. Specification of entrepreneurial skills with their social, economic, political and cultural background in selected European countries

Farmers themselves will have an understanding of their own entrepreneurial capability and skill set and be able to tell how that skill set needs to be developed. The views of other stakeholders and decision makers who interact with farmers also need to be taken into consideration. It is therefore necessary to understand these phenomena from two perspectives: that of the farmer and that of different groups in the socio-technical network of agriculture.
The objective is to identify and map the significance of entrepreneurial skills in different countries, regions and different farming strategies from the two perspectives.

Ad 3. Identification and analysis of the economic, social and cultural factors hindering and stimulating the development of entrepreneurial skills

In order to discover weaknesses and to identify the factors that hinder the development of entrepreneurial skills, entrepreneurial skills of farmers must be measured. The hindering and stimulating factors thus identified also have to be analysed with respect to why they exist and how they work.

Ad 4. Elaboration of strategies and tools to overcome barriers and to improve stimulating factors for the development of entrepreneurial skills

As a synthesis of the research, it is necessary to detect what can be done to improve the situation of the farmers. Recommendations and tools have to be developed on both levels:

• Decision makers should understand why farmers have had problems in being entrepreneurial and what economic, educational and political changes are necessary in order to foster the development of entrepreneurial skills of farmers.
• Farmers have to understand what entrepreneurship is and which skills are needed for it. They have to be able to find out for themselves whether they act entrepreneurially, where their strengths and weaknesses regarding entrepreneurial skills are and what they themselves can do to improve them.