Our Services
Advisory services
A typical advisory assignment goes through three distinct yet interconnected stages: contextualise, analyse, resolve. The process involves in-depth research in the field and desktop informed by regular consultation with clients and stakeholders. It concludes with a comprehensive report and follow-up presentation outlining the salient features of the assignment and proposed action going forward.
Phase 1
Contextual Investigation
Phase 2
Analysis and Strategic Assessment
Phase 3
Resolution and Roadmap
To better understand the opportunities and alternatives presented by an assignment, we generate an analytic overview of the baseline context in which the project is embedded.
Our initial analysis is built upon in-depth baseline studies of the status and socio-economic characteristics of the project. We first examine the resources profile from which we evaluate the agricultural potential of four ‘fixed’ resources:
- Land, site and physical characteristics
- Available and accessible human resources
- External and internal infrastructure
- Market access and support structures
We then examine the operational profile as shaped by the assignment’s ‘organisational drivers’ which propel the enterprise and interrelate with its resource base. We explore the compatibility of this relationship and its effects on the project. Typical organisational drivers are:
- Financial structuring, access to capital
- Movable assets
- Governance and ownership
- Workforce capacity
- Technical competence
- Management
The overall intention in this first phase is to match our contextual findings with the assignment’s business and/or development objectives.
In Summary
An examination of context gives us a baseline overview of the relationship between business objectives and the technical and operational profiles and sets the stage for critical analysis. A preliminary understanding of the nature and quality of this relationship has an added advantage: it allows the client to re-evaluate (and even reframe) his/her objectives at an early stage in the process.
With the assignment contextualised and with its possibilities and boundaries broadly defined, we are able to undertake a meaningful analysis of its economic robustness and its potential for success.
This second, analytical phase forms the foundation upon which the strategic plan(s) for the assignment can be built. To arrive at this point, we examine the business positioning of the proposed enterprise, looking at:
- Agricultural operations vs industry best practice
- Existing technical capacity and projected requirements
- Resource availability and constraints
- Economic potential and competitive environment
- Projected economic outcomes and socio-political impact
Then we assess key economic linkages:
- Cost and revenue profiles for existing and proposed scenarios
- Sensitivities, risk factors and mitigation strategies
- Forecasted financial performance, capital requirements and IRR
- Simulated and modelled scenario outcomes identifying key variables
In this way we present for discussion a consolidated picture of the socio-economic robustness of the assignment plus an assessment of its compatibility with the client’s (possibly amended) vision for it. What remains is a plan for its future trajectory.
In Summary
Our economic analysis and project-specific simulation delivers a rigorous tool for evaluating in some detail the feasibility of primary and alternative agribusiness and agri-development objectives. The analysis reveals important links between qualitative judgements over contexts/resources and quantitative descriptions of operational/financial outcomes. This is essential for informed decision-making and the creation of a future roadmap.
With a comprehensive micro-economic analysis completed, we conclude our assignment by consolidating our findings into a roadmap to chart a way forward and give the enterprise its best chance of securing its goals.
We start with a purpose-based discussion with the client to outline a framework going forward that is both practical and efficacious. This converts into a ‘development roadmap’ consisting of several components, important among them being the timeframe, an action plan and a financing plan. In the final analysis these will be presented, together with our baseline and analytical findings in a final draft report to contain, where required:
- A contemporaneous portrait of the client enterprise from baseline definition to strategic analysis
- A 360º representation of operating context (including competency assessment)
- A core business strategy (among compatible alternatives)
- Capital needs analysis
- Modelling, simulation and scenario construction
- Management
In Summary
An examination of context gives us a baseline overview of the relationship between business objectives and the technical and operational profiles and sets the stage for critical analysis. A preliminary understanding of the nature and quality of this relationship has an added advantage: it allows the client to re-evaluate (and even reframe) his/her objectives at an early stage in the process.