Business school training gives farmers an edge in revitalizing rural communities (FAO and Guangfa Securities)
A new programme designed to equip farmers with business and e-commerce skills is set to play an important role in revitalizing rural areas of China. Farmer Field Business School, a training programme developed by FAO with the support of private sector partners, helps farmers in rural areas acquire the necessary skills to improve the quality of their agricultural products and find a greater market for these products online.
These business trainings support the SDG Villages Project, FAO’s first project in China to be fully funded by the private sector. In the context of the project, FAO, Guangfa Securities and China Agriculture Science and Education Foundation (CASEF) provide comprehensive assistance to the 16 pilot villages in rural China, focusing on agricultural industry development and adopting the “Internet + Agriculture + Finance'' model to help revitalize rural areas.
Farmer Field Business School (FFBS) offers instruction on topics such as e-commerce, branding for agricultural products, multi-dimension solutions for controlling crop pests and diseases, protection of pollinators and an overview of policies on farmers’ cooperatives. The first training, held in China’s Hubei Province, lasted three days and trained about 70 farmer tutors and more than 400 farmers in nearby villages. FFBS is an excellent example of how multi-stakeholder collaborations can help tackle poverty and promote rural revitalization, with the private sector contributing not only funding, but knowledge and expertise: representatives from Alibaba, Daily Amoy and other e-commerce platforms joined the FFBS as instructors, teaching the farmers how to sell agricultural products via e-commerce platforms.
FAO and Guangfa Securities continue to work together to promote the uptake of agricultural technologies and support local agricultural experts and leaders in green value chain development. The collaboration draws on private sector resources and expertise to accelerate the transformation from traditional agriculture to ecological agriculture, and ensure both economic development and environmental protection.
Guangfa Securities, a commercial banking and investment company, and FAO signed a Letter of Intent in July 2018 to promote rural revitalization and support the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals. The cooperation aims to reduce rural poverty in China by promoting smart and green agriculture and assist the Government of China in implementing its rural revitalization strategy.
