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The Training Workshop on Farm Produces Marketing, Financial Management & Risks Successfully Held in Yunnan and Inner Mongolia

By Liu Wenxiang (SFAGM Coordinator in Wuchuan, IMAR)
 

In collaboration with Poverty Alleviation Office (PAO) of Yunnan Province and PAO of Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, the Small Farmers Adapting to Global Markets (SFAGM) project held two sessions of “Training Workshop on Farm Produces Marketing, Financial Management & Risks”, on June 13 to 17 and on June 27 to July 2, 2008 respectively. The participants, totaling 100, all came from poor counties or Banners of the Province and Region, and they were cadres of poverty alleviation on the frontline, capable people who have become rich, leaders of farmers’ cooperative organizations and leaders of enterprises in difficulty. A striking feature of this training was the large number of ethnic minority people, including people of Hani, Dai, Yi, Jino and Mongolian. And 35% of the participants were women. The training aims to help poor farmers and herders in remote rural areas of Yunnan and Inner Mongolia to increase their market competence and their management and decision-making capabilities. Prof. Huang Zuhui, the Dean of School of Management, Zhejiang University, gave a special talk on “Small Farmers and Market”. Prof. Jiang Yongning, from Yunnan Agricultural University and Prof. He Fengyan, from Party School of Inner Mongolia, each gave a talk on the topic “Management of Small Businesses and Public Management”. Ms. Yang Pengling, a coordinator of the SFAGM project, used the participatory method to introduce the knowledge of marketing. Mr. Wang Lizhong, an official in charge of World Bank projects from PAO of Inner Mongolia, introduced the knowledge of financial management and micro-credit. The participants were learning and discussing in an easy and happy atmosphere. The module of marketing focuses on helping farmers and herders to understand the four major tactics of marketing: product, price, distribution and promotion, and using the actual problems encountered by farmers and herders in the process of selling products as the cases to conduct simulated teaching. The module of small business management focuses on helping farmers and herders to know how to deploy products and services, business methods and calculate the costs and profits of business. The module of micro-credit focuses on introducing to farmers and herders some knowledge of credit policy, procedures for application for loans and calculation of the interest. The training participants also paid field visits to Baotou Branch of Yili Group, Little-Sheep Company and Baotou Branch Farm of Little Lamb Company, Dai People Tea Farm, and a demonstration village of building a new socialist countryside in XishuangBanna. Combining the theoretical knowledge with the field visits makes it easier to digest what has been learnt from the training session. The training achieved a very good effect, meeting the expected goals, extending the outcomes of the SFAGM project, and enabling more people in remote areas in Yunnan and Inner Mongolia to obtain more knowledge of small businesses, managerial skills and financial management.

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