ORANGEBURG, S.C. – Why buy cucumbers, peppers and tomatoes when you can learn to grow your own in innovative ways?

This spring and summer, South Carolina State University’s Innovation and Entrepreneurship Hub conducted programs for high school students and small farmers with an emphasis on horticultural and good business practices.

The Agricultural and Entrepreneurial Leadership Institute (AELI) included:

·        A six-month training program for small farm growers about entrepreneurship in agribusiness.

·        A two-week camp for high school students to introduce them to raised-bed gardening and the use of hydroponic growing systems.

Both projects were funded by a grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

The AELI Summer Camp served 15 students from area high schools. Campers engaged in classroom discussions about innovations in the agribusiness industry, as well as hands-on activities.

“The primary goal of the summer camp was to get students interested in agribusiness at an early age to recruit them to the Agribusiness Program at South Carolina State,” said Zachary Thomas, Innovation HUB program director. “We will continue to work with these students to help them develop a raised-bed garden at their schools.”

Students constructed two raised bed gardens and planted such vegetables as tomatoes, peppers and cucumbers. They also installed a hydroponic system in a small greenhouse to grow some plants.

To see what they could do on a larger scale, the campers visited the Sustaining Way Farms in Greenville, South Carolina, and Gullah Cooperatives in Beaufort, South Carolina.

Beginning in May, 16 small growers participated in the six-month AELI entrepreneurship program.

“Most small farmers see themselves as producers rather than entrepreneurs,” said Dr. Barbara Adams, the primary investigator for the project. “To be effective farmers, however, they must have both agricultural knowledge and entrepreneurial leadership skills.

They must possess knowledge and understanding of the food and fiber system that will enable them to improve the management, production and distribution of their products,” said Adams, who also is executive director of SC State’s Institute for Business, Environment Communications and Transportation.

The AELI training consisted of four components in sessions twice per month. A Certificate of Completion and a $2,000 stipend was given to participating farmers.

“The goal of the Institute was to identify best practices and develop a program to provide farmers with knowledge, skills, and support services needed to strengthen and sustain their farm businesses in rural South Carolina,” said Dr. Renu Singh, the co-principal investigator.

As agriculture continues to change and the demand for food and fiber products continues to increase, the profitability of agricultural producers in the food and fiber sector will depend on their agricultural knowledge and entrepreneurial leadership skills.

Prior to implementing the training program, the Innovation and Entrepreneurship Hub conducted several forums. The goal was to identify issues faced by small agricultural producers and the skills needed to enable them to better manage their businesses. In the end, the farmers would be able to identify and implement innovative ways to create, deliver and capture value in a changing agricultural environment.

AELI training sessions were conducted by Thomas and Singh, as well as Gary Robinson, executive director of the Orangeburg Regional Innovation Center; and Joseph Onyeocha, assistant professor of accounting.

Topics in the training included:

·        Comprehensive Business Planning - to help create a written plan to start or expand the farm business, participants created a comprehensive roadmap for their farm that covers overall goals, financial planning, marketing, distribution, and promotion.

·        Enterprise Budgeting & Finance – to help farmers understand financial management and recordkeeping for the profitable management of a farm, participants learned about various financial tools to assess costs and liquidity while also learning how the financial information impacts the overall success of the farm. As a result, farmers will better set prices based on actual costs of production.

·        Marketing & Value-Added Strategies – to help build demand for their product by creating an effective marketing strategy, participants learned about various direct and indirect markets for their products, effective promotional mediums, and pricing strategies.

·        Co-Operative Development - Information was shared about a local co-operative that is being developed to support local farmers. They learned what co-ops offer and how to optimize this opportunity to reduce farm costs while also increasing revenues. One of the outcomes of the institute is that they will follow through and form or join a cooperative.

The Innovation and Entrepreneurship Hub is a component of SC State’s College of Business & Information Systems. A culminating event for the AELI projects was held on Wednesday, Sept. 20.

###

About South Carolina State University

Founded in 1896 as a land grant institution with a mission of providing service to the citizens of the state, South Carolina State University has evolved from a small teachers’ college into a major University center of learning and research. Located in Orangeburg, S.C., South Carolina State offers more than 50 different fields of study on the undergraduate and graduate levels. South Carolina State University is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools and is a member of the Council of Graduate Schools.