Azernews.Az

By Sara Rajabova

ADA University has hosted a panel discussion on the theme: the concept of agribusiness, the business of agriculture and on sustainable development.

The event was organized by the Advisory Council on Entrepreneurship (ACE) an initiative of EMBA class of 2015 of Maastricht School of Management and ADA University on February 6.

The event moderated by Nick Nwolisa, EMBA 2015, is a follow of similar event that was organized last year on "Become an entrepreneur in Azerbaijan".

Just like last year, the organizers invited experts established entrepreneurs from the industry, in this case, agriculture.

Vugar Babayev, Chairman of Ganja Agribusiness Association (GABA), head of department of innovation of central office of presidium of Azerbaijan National Academy of Sciences (ANAS), Philip Wright, General Manager, Azerbaijan Food and Packaging Company, Rashad Tanriverdiyev, Director, Programs Development, Turan Bank and Tamilla Amirbayova, Internal Control/Social Performance Manager, AqroInvest CU attended the panel.

The discussions noted that agricultural sector in Azerbaijan is still not fully developed. However, the government is putting in lots of effort to develop the sector and some of the government effort is to support legislators that encourage more farmers.

"As at this year, several laws would be passed that would rectify the lapses in agribusiness development,"said Babayev. He also advised that small farmers should form cooperatives and through this means, they can better influence agriculture value chain, the market and profitability.

Wright added that big corporations will always want to work with big farms and right now Azerbaijan farmers do not have that capacity for sustainable and sufficient supplies. Considering that this is a problem in the value chain, entrepreneurs can therefore see this as an opportunity to add to the value chain through novel agribusiness.

Azerbaijan government in developing the policies in agriculture is also making funds available for loans on agribusiness. Tanriverdiyev remarked that "Turan bank works with the state support fund on entrepreneurship in providing loans to farmers." There are also other small finances available to small farmers through micro financing.

Communicating these developments to small farmers is always an issue. Also lack of adequate knowledge on finance management also creates impediments for farmers to adequately maximize the profits from their produce. Amirbayova said this is true for most of the clients they work with, however, organizations like AgroInvest tries to incorporate appropriate training programs that are beneficial to its clients.

EMBA class of 2015 is the pioneering business student of school of business ADA University. "In setting the pace, and in order to contribute to development of young business Azerbaijanis, and point them towards opportunities, we will continue to come up with initiatives such as this," said Jamila Talibzadeh, president of the class in conclusion.

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Sara Rajabova is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @SaraRajabova

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