Answer To: ICT204 Design Thinking and Requirements Assessment 1 Assessment 1– Team Assignment Overview You are...
Neha answered on Feb 10 2021
75631 - agriculture ideas/~WRL0003.tmp
Running Head: ICT204 DESIGN THINKING AND REQUIREMENTS 1
ICT204 DESIGN THINKING AND REQUIREMENTS 9
ICT204 DESIGN THINKING AND REQUIREMENTS
ASSESSMENT 1– TEAM ASSIGNMENT
Table of Contents
Introduction 3
1. Three Key Challenges Faced by Australia Agriculture Business Owners 3
2. Proposal to Enhance the Market Availability and Developing Supply Chain: Validation 5
3. Mapping the Proposal and Rationale 6
4. Computer Drawn Sketch Explaining the Steps 6
5. Conclusion 8
References 9
Introduction
Agricultural frameworks in any nation are expected to be of highest quality with a view to strengthen the overall economy of nation. In fact, what makes this statement applicable to both developing and developed region of the world equally is the fact that agricultural economy is the skeleton of holistic development. In Australian context, the participation of youth in agriculture, the lack of innovation and knowledge provided to them as well as the weak policy implementation on behalf of the government are some of the key challenges that serve as the barrier to the sustainable farming (Nosratabadi et al., 2019).
The owners of sustainable farming confront these issues at various level of their production of crops especially the lack of strong and integrated supply chain affects largely the bottom line of owners that is the small farm owners does not get the desired outputs in markets due to the existence of monopoly of large suppliers. A holistic approach to resolve this issue is anticipated that will increase options of accessibility to small business owners and at the same time, it will encourage the participation of youth in the sustainable farming.
1. Three Key Challenges Faced by Australia Agriculture Business Owners
At first, it is significant to note here that the three key challenges in Australian sustainable farming are related to some complex barriers. However, as argued by Dessart, Barreiro-Hurle and van Bavel (2019), these barriers are within limit of the interventions of the government as well as of sustainable farming owners. The first challenge is the lack of interest of youth to participate in the sustainable farming as a business; the farming sector in Australia is having aging issues.
The average age of sustainable farm owner is 56, despite the fact that average age of a worker in Australia is 39 (Reputation Edge, 2020). The aging and diversity affects the growth and expansion of sustainable farming because youth appears to be indifferent towards the farming options especially in the context of developing the sustainable farming as a business. Even in traditional families, where sustainable farming is major profession, the divergent behaviour of youth is seen towards other job profiles instead of continuing their family business with new approach (Reputation Edge, 2020).
Secondly, in strengthening the sustainable farming, the implementation of strong and integrated policies on behalf of national and state governments appears to be legging behind, if compared to other developed nations. It is more like the lack of government spending in the form of innovative investment towards sustainable farming (Fornarelli, Shahnia, Anda, Bahri & Ho, 2018). For example, as per the OECD reports published in 2017, the contribution of government policies towards funding sustainable farming methods in Australia to enhance the agriculture-based income was 1.34%.
This is considerably less than other developed countries; the same contribution in US is 9.44%, in China, it is 21.34% and in Japan, it is 43.07% (Reputation Edge, 2020). The difference in the investment can be seen fairly, here and it is relatable to the lack of interest in the youth towards opting for sustainable farming as the traditional business of their respective families. As the most dominant and the most relatable one, the markets of sustainable farming are under the dominance of large suppliers; the market is abundant with the diversity associated with the small and large suppliers.
However, as criticised by Artmann and Sartison (2018), the small business owners do not get enough opportunities to expand their business through positive options available. In fact, small-scale business owners find it typical to have their fixed prices of the crop in the market, which is due to the monopoly of large suppliers. They have to remain dependent over these big players because they control the pricing process thoroughly. It not only affects the small owners of sustainable farming but also it does not serve as helpful alternative to develop strong supply chain network. It serves as the negative enabler to the productivity of the small-scale business owners as well.
2. Proposal to Enhance the Market Availability and Developing Supply Chain: Validation
In the context of reviewing the three key challenges mentioned above, the core barriers that affects the other two is the lack of market availability and weak supply chain network built throughout the nation for the small business owners. Therefore, this proposal will enhance the availability of the market to the small business owners and it will additionally help in tackling this monopoly of the large suppliers positively (Archer et al., 2018). This proposal will be guided by the enhancement of the Australian government; the contribution of the invested capital will be directed towards dedicating it to the small-scale business owners of sustainable farming.
What validates the above proposal; is the fact that, by increasing the contribution of the government in the process of developing new markets, it will be ensured that the precise support is given to those, whose crops and productivity both are affected by the concept of monopoly. These developing new markets are dedicated to a fixed income group of small-scale business owners, in sustainable farming. These markets will be available at local level so that supply chain network is also enhanced (Nettle, Crawford & Brightling, 2018). The business owners will not have to look for buying or selling their crops in the markets that are distinctively available in the selected areas.
Additionally, the proposal can be justified by the idea that sustainable farming in Australia needs to ensure that equity and value proposition are achieved successfully. This is also to ensure that the reach of the government policies is processed well. The profits generated by the revenue earned through sustainable farming are available to all business owners regardless of the size and structure of their business (Archer et al., 2018). It will consequently increase the interest of the youth in sustainable farming, resolving the issue of aging, as mentioned above.
3. Mapping the Proposal and Rationale
Sustainable farming is the relatable concept to the map in the below section. Agriculture is seen by the Australian community as a major player in running the economy of the country. Farmers have embraced more ecologically 'green' farming systems and reduced the amount of soil and water contamination, fertiliser and pesticide reliance, while rising production in order to contribute to sustainability plus long-term food and fibre production stability (Grau, Vilcinskas & Joop, 2017).
It can be understood from the factors highlighted above that agricultural sustainability is all about caring for the immediate environment as a nation or a society to increase its yields (Nosratabadi et al., 2019). The objectives are met by various agricultural practices, including agricultural protection. As a continent of its own, Australians practise various agricultural practices developed in 1888, as monitored by the movement of the Agricultural Bureau. Since its establishment, the bureau has stated that various regions of the country are suffering from different characteristics of agricultural sustainability (Campbell et al., 2018).
Western Australia, for example, faces acidity concerns in soils because the southern portion is largely agricultural...