The role of agribusiness incubators and start-up Hubs in the creation of innovative agri-entrepreneurial mindset among undergraduate students: Updates from the StartUP Villa UCC_AEE Case study

StartUP Villa UCC AEE is an innovation villa that seeks to connect agro-technology and agribusiness models that can serve as case studies and learning centers for research, learning and industry. As an agriculture-based innovation hub, this center seeks to identify, train and mentor talented undergraduates and graduate students who have entrepreneurial and innovative mindsets that can create scalable and sustainable business models. The unique component of this hub is the varied focus and combination involving farmer-based organizations, community groups and SMEs to provide business solutions to challenges faced by them from the onset. An action research and prototyping of agro-processing technologies by selected students is important component of this innovation. Whiles the StartUP villa is located on the campus of the University of Cape Coast, rural information centers were expected to be established within communities whereby business models and innovations emanate from students, and later on by selected youth, will be tested. The case studies are to serve as learning tools for the community of practice that will engage in these projects. Scalability of the tested business models is core to the vision and mission of the StartUP Villa UCC-A EE hub. Preliminary results of the original vision of the StartUP Villa is presented in this paper.