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Approaches to Sustainable Entrepreneurship Education in South Sudan. Kevin McKague, MBA, PhD Adjunct Faculty, Schulich School of Business, York University Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Ross School of Business, University of Michigan Academy of Management, Orlando August 9, 2013.
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Approaches to Sustainable Entrepreneurship Education in South Sudan Kevin McKague, MBA, PhD Adjunct Faculty, Schulich School of Business, York University Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Ross School of Business, University of Michigan Academy of Management, Orlando August 9, 2013
The Case of South Sudan • South Sudan is the world’s newest country • 83% of the population lives in rural areas and subsists on agriculture-based incomes of under $1/day • Emerging from decades of civil war the country simultaneously faces great challenges, but also presents an overwhelming number of opportunities • McKinsey estimates that 90% of food consumed in the capital city Juba is imported from neighbouring Uganda or Kenya, despite the country having some of the most fertile farmland in Africa in the White Nile river basin
InSub-Saharan Africa generally… Agriculture accounts for: • almost half of Sub-Saharan Africa's GDP • the livelihoods of 80% of the population TheWorld Bank estimates that if African agriculture was optimized it could become a $1 trillion industry (IFC, 2013) However, farmers face numerousmarket and government failures that keep them from reaching their productive potential including: access to knowledge, information, technology, markets, finance and ways to reduce risk
Therefore When developing approaches to entrepreneurial education and sustainable entrepreneurship: • Context matters • Entrepreneurial ecosystem matters
South Sudan: Agricultural Entrepreneurship The history of economic development shows that few countries have achieved sustained economic growth and poverty alleviation without first, or simultaneously, developing their agricultural sector. (Birkhaeuser, Evenson and Feder, 1991)
“Agriculture is not a development activity, it is a business.” - AkinwumiAdesina, Minister of Agriculture, Nigeria “Poor farmers are not a problem to be solved; they are the best answer for a world that is fighting hunger and poverty, and trying to feed a growing population” - Bill Gates, Co-Chair, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation
Agricultural Enterprise Ecosystem Requires investment in three fundamental areas: Entrepreneurship Education • Training, capacity building, mentoring, networks Finance • For all sizes of enterprise at all stages of development Access to Markets • Connections to market demand and growth opportunities
Entrepreneurship Education for Building the Agricultural Enterprise Ecosystem in South Sudan • Entrepreneur Mentoring and Networking Entrepreneurship Education Network • Creating a South Sudan Entrepreneurship Development (SSED) Network • Incl. IFC, South Sudan Chamber of Commerce, Spark South Sudan, Universities, local training organizations
Entrepreneurship Education for Building the Agricultural Enterprise Ecosystem in South Sudan • University-Level Entrepreneurship Education • University of Juba Chair in Entrepreneurship • PhD training in Entrepreneurship for faculty • Entrepreneurship courses and research • Scholarships and bursaries
Entrepreneurship Education for Building the Agricultural Enterprise Ecosystem in South Sudan • School-Level Entrepreneurship Education • Entrepreneurship training modules developed for: • Farmer field schools, primary and secondary school, agricultural colleges
Approaches to Sustainable Entrepreneurship Education inSouth Sudan Kevin McKague, MBA, PhD Adjunct Faculty, Schulich School of Business, York University Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Ross School of Business, University of Michigan Academy of Management, Orlando August 9, 2013