ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on providing information that can be useful to agencies advising farmers about the transition to alternative enterprises. Firms that succeed in improving their performance by shifting to alternative enterprises can effectively enhance employment in the rural South, strengthen the economy in their area, and contribute to the maintenance of the community infrastructure. Withdrawal of resources from conventional enterprises to produce alternative products and services obviously will reduce the problem in conventional agriculture, but the effects of this withdrawal are likely to be swamped by technological developments and increases in productive capacity in the rest of the world. The chapter examines the potential market for the products and services, obstacles to success, and activities which can help reduce these obstacles. Farmers have long claimed that poor performance in agriculture was largely the result of defects in marketing and have called for emphasis on marketing research and education.
