Infrastructural Investment Opportunities for the Development of Agricultural Businesses Based on Public- Private Partnership Approach

Agricultural infrastructured included the entire body of basic services needed for the growth of an economy and for the improvement of the efficiency of the markets related to food and dietary fiber. Investment in agricultural infrastructure calls for a wide- spread collaboration among the various organization involved in the sector. The main purpose of the present research was to identify and prioritize the opportunities available for infrastructural investment with an emphasis on the public- private partnership approach so as to develop agricultural businesses. This research is a qualitative type study in which 16 top experts and entrepreneurs versed in agricultural practice were selected as research samples through a purposive sampling method. Then, the infrastructural of different sections and sub- sections were identified to be prioritized through the hierarchical analysis technique, using Expert Choice 11 software. The research findings well revealed that the opportunities for infrastructural investment and the pertinent priorities fall into two categories: a) public infrastructure (consisting of transportation, gas supply, and farming and greenhouse estates, respectively) and b) agricultural specialized infrastructure (consisting of soil/ land, water, and services, respectively). Also, the research findings well proposed the following suggestions as the points of focus and of investment by the public sector and the private sector, respectively: Rural transportation, and making farmers familiar with cadaster projects and livestock- breeding projects.