EVALUATION OF A TRAINING PROGRAMME DESIGNED TO IMPROVE THE ENTREPRENEURIAL COMPETENCIES OF DUTCH DAIRY FARMERS.

Due to all kinds of external and internal changes that have taken place on the farm in recent years, entrepreneurial competencies are becoming increasingly important for farmers. Investigating the possibilities for improving these competencies by means of a training programme is therefore an extremely worthwhile exercise. Previous research indicates that the concept of competencies can provide insights into the entrepreneurial behaviour of farmers, and gives a means to evaluate an intervention programme aimed at developing entrepreneurial competencies. This paper describes the evaluation of a training program. The results of the presented study indicate that it is possible to improve entrepreneurial competencies of dairy farmers by means of developing and discussing the farmers ’ strategic plans in study groups. On average all participants benefited from the program, irrespective of farmer and farm characteristics or the level of competencies at the start of the program