Empowering women who manage horticultural businesses in New Jersey and Turkey

The mission of two Rutgers University led farm management education programs for women is to empower women who own horticultural businesses by providing business management training with a focus on developing a business plan throughout the training Annie's Project New Jersey is based on a nationallyacclaimed educational program dedicated to strengthening women's roles in the everevolving agricultural sector. While Annie's Project originated in the mid-west where agronomic crops are the primary agricultural crops, New Jersey is the most densely populated state in the US with higher land and labor costs and more regulations than other states. On the flip side, the state's comparative advantage over other states is that it has a higher percentage of high-income consumers and close proximity to them. Thus, successful farmers in New Jersey are often horticultural producers and many are direct marketers; they need to produce high value crops and products to succeed. With New Jersey farmers working in such a competitive environment, the project team decided to require every program participant to complete a business plan. Inspired by the early success of Annie's Project New Jersey, Rutgers University partnered with Akdeniz University in Antalya, Turkey to develop Suzanne's Project in the Antalya province of Turkey. This project provides specialized training in business management, computer skills, and best management production practices to help Turkish women who operate small vegetable greenhouses and citrus orchards pursue opportunities to improve their farm businesses by creating a business plan throughout the course. Lessons learned from each program have been used to improve the other while adapting to local conditions.