The Feasibility of Small-scale Indigenous Fruit Processing Enterprises in Southern Africa - Indigenous Fruit Trees in the Tropics: Domestication, Utilization and Commercialization - page 275

15.2 Conceptual Framework for Analysing Feasibility

The conceptual framework used to conduct these feasibility studies comprises
three main components and is detailed below. Lecup and Nicholson (2000)
proposed a conceptual framework to determine the feasibility of community-
based tree and forest product enterprises. In their approach, four main areas of
enterprise development were assessed across three levels, which include the
market and economic environment, the resources environment, the social and
institutional environment and the science and technology environment from
community to international level. Doyer and Vermeulen (2000) proposed an
extension to the framework, represented in Fig. 15.1. The Doyer and Vermeulen
framework is initialized with the identification of an opportunity where the
feasibility of the opportunity is assessed in the four core areas, as identified by
Lecup and Nicholson (2000). If the opportunity is assessed to be viable, a
business plan is compiled to define process of implementation by means of
commercialization. If the opportunity is assessed to be unfeasible, the process is
terminated. The following sections detail the four primary components of the
feasibility assessment as proposed in the conceptual framework developed by
Lecup and Nicholson (2000).
Taylor (1999) assents to these findings when he concludes that successful
community-based forest product enterprises are very dependent on six central
points:

Opportunity identification

Feasibility study:
Market and
economic

Feasibility study:
Resources and
environment

Feasibility study:
Social and
institutional

Feasibility study:
Science and
technological

Viable in all 4
spheres?

Yes No

Compile the business plan Process terminated

Implementation through
commercialization

Fig. 15.1. Flow diagram for the exploration of new opportunities.