Characterization of rural associative Agroenterprises in Antioquia for the strengthening of collective action and local development

Abstract

A fundamental role of the different agricultural extension models is the generation of entrepreneurial processes through associative and organizational proposals among medium and small producers. Knowing how these organizations have developed allows establishing opportunities for improvement that will benefit their structure and function, strengthening their social and commercial capital. The objective of the research was to characterize rural agribusinesses through the analysis of secondary information and the collection of field data provided by managers and members of the organization to learn about their current situation and their needs for strengthening. For this purpose, a mixed approach research was used, with a predominantly qualitative and concurrent type of research. The agroenterprises were characterized through the analysis of secondary information, semi-structured interviews and focus groups, which allowed the identification of the key aspects that affect the business initiatives, seen from five categories of analysis -technical, economic, social, commercial and organizational-, which facilitated the approach to the multiple factors that revolve around these business models and their influence in the rural sector. The intervention made it possible to identify fundamental aspects in the process of consolidation of an organization, finding similarities with what is reported in the literature; it also favored the diagnosis of the territory and the social and business impact of the agroenterprise on the community, identifying the aspects that they consider relevant for the development of their self-management and sustainability capacities, and thus building a participatory tool for the identification of the real needs that involve the real actor of the agricultural extension interventions. In conclusion, the participatory proposal for the characterization of agribusinesses generated a high degree of ownership on the part of the key actors of the territory, reflecting on factors that influence their operation and making a journey from their capacities to the identification of weaknesses and opportunities. This form of intervention encourages the community not only to identify its needs, but also to become involved in the creation of proposals that mobilize its resources and strategies towards consolidation and sustainability.