On January 18-21, 2008, Small Farmers Adapting to Global Markets Project (SFAGM) held a training workshop on business management for small- and medium-sized agri-businesses in Chengdu, Sichuan. A total of 56 trainees from small- and medium-sized agri-businesses in Sichuan, Inner Mongolia, Gansu, Xinjiang, Hunan, Hubei, Yunnan and Guangxi participated in the training. The trainers came from Sichuan University and Zhejiang University.

Management for agricultural SMEs is an important link in the supply chain of agricultural products and is significant to increase farmer’s income. SFAGM has successfully organized a number of such training courses in Sichuan and Inner Mongolia. This time it focused on the marketing of agricultural products at the request of the Chinese side. Professor Wu Lan and Professor Li Mingde with Business School of Sichuan University gave lectures on business finance and human resources management respectively and Dr. Lu Boxiang, famous training expert with Zhejiang University introduced the strategies of marketing management. Besides, the trainees also visited Sichuan Tiancheng Foods Co., Ltd. in Leshan, Sichuan, an export-oriented enterprise exporting vegetables to Japan. Leaders of the company exchanged with the trainees the experience in operation and management of SMEs.

After the training, many trainees said that such kind of training was very useful and they hoped to participate in similar courses in the future.