Involving Family and Community
Complementary Use of Family and Neighborhood Labor
- Provide attractive income opportunities
- Design schedule to allow for off-farm jobs
- Organize tasks to utilize best skills of each worker
Ergonomic and Safety Considerations
- Design tasks to minimize repetitive physical strain
- Determine age-appropriate responsibilities
- Emphasize worker safety and satisfaction
Youth Opportunities and Development
- Recognize local youths with particular skills
- Pair them with older workers that are willing to teach
- Provide additional training and learning opportunities
Sense of Joint "Ownership" and Responsibility
- Provide opportunities for suggestions and brainstorming
- Develop appropriate incentive program or "piece of the action"
- Acknowledge contributions and reward stewardship
- Encourage employees to develop complementary enterprises
Entrepreneurial Networking
- Encourage collaborative creativity among those within your own company
- Discuss production technology with others having similar products but different markets
- Discuss business techniques with others in local area producing different products
- Enroll in entrepreneurial training or join national organization
Complementarity of Businesses
- Learn how local businesses can provide inputs or markets for each other
- Encourage start-up of businesses that can utilize by-products as inputs
- Support local suppliers and buyers when possible
Selected Resources
Simple Solutions: Ergonomics for Farm Workers, by Sherry Baron, Cheryl Estill, Andrea Steege, Nina Lalich. National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health. Publication No. 2001-111. Order from 1-800-356-4674 or www.cdc.gov/niosh
Healthy Farmers, Healthy Profits. Direct-marketing tips sheets for small-scale
vegetable producers. bse.wisc.edu/HFHP
