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Agripreneurship development: a strategy for revamping the Nigeria’s economy from recession

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Abstract

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore agripreneurship development as a strategy for economic growth and development. Design/methodology/approach Though a few related literature were reviewed, this paper relies heavily on the author’s viewpoint regarding how Nigeria can grow and develop its economy through agripreneurship development. Findings The present economic challenges that Nigeria is facing are blamed on overdependence on the oil sector, bad governance, corruption, leadership failure, policy inconsistency, overdependence on imported goods and ostensible neglect of the agricultural sector. Also, policymakers, economic analysts and the government have advocated strongly for diversification of the economy. Besides, there is a consensus among scholars, economic analysts and policymakers that “agriculture is the answer.” Research limitations/implications This paper addresses specifically one sector of the economy – the agricultural sector. On the other hand, economic crisis needs to be addressed holistically by resolving specific issues that confront different sectors of the economy. Practical implications This paper has some insightful policy and practical implications for the Nigerian Government and Nigerians. The government and Nigerians need to take practical steps to grow and develop the economy. On the part of the government, apart from the need to transform the agricultural sector by allocating enough funds to it, the government should establish well-equipped agripreneurship development centers and organize periodically agripreneurship development programmes for the main purpose of training and developing both current and potential agripreneurs who will be able to apply today’s agricultural techniques and practices which involve a great deal of creativity and innovation for a successful agribusiness. The federal government should integrate agripreneurship education into Nigeria’s education system. Similarly, the Nigerian people, particularly the youths or graduates should be encouraged to choose agribusiness as a career. Originality/value While previous papers have offered different solutions to the current economic crisis that Nigeria is experiencing, ranging from economic to structural reforms, this paper differs significantly from others by recommending specifically agripreneurship development as a strategy for revamping Nigeria’s economy from its current recession. Moreover, there is a dearth of literature on agripreneurship and agripreneurship development. This paper therefore fills the literature gap.
African Journal of Economic and Management Studies
Agripreneurship development: a strategy for revamping Nigeria’s economy from
recession
Innocent Otache,
Article information:
To cite this document:
Innocent Otache, (2017) "Agripreneurship development: a strategy for revamping Nigeria’s economy
from recession", African Journal of Economic and Management Studies, Vol. 8 Issue: 4, pp.474-483,
https://doi.org/10.1108/AJEMS-05-2017-0091
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Agripreneurship development:
a strategy for revamping Nigerias
economy from recession
Innocent Otache
Department of Business Administration and Management,
Federal Polytechnic Idah, Idah, Nigeria
Abstract
Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore agripreneurship development as a strategy for economic
growth and development.
Design/methodology/approach Though a few related literature were reviewed, this paper relies
heavily on the authors viewpoint regarding how Nigeria can grow and develop its economy through
agripreneurship development.
Findings The present economic challenges that Nigeria is facing are blamed on overdependence on the oil
sector, bad governance, corruption, leadership failure, policy inconsistency, overdependence on imported
goods and ostensible neglect of the agricultural sector. Also, policymakers, economic analysts and the
government have advocated strongly for diversification of the economy. Besides, there is a consensus among
scholars, economic analysts and policymakers that agriculture is the answer.
Research limitations/implications This paper addresses specifically one sector of the economy the
agricultural sector. On the other hand, economic crisis needs to be addressed holistically by resolving specific
issues that confront different sectors of the economy.
Practical implications This paper has some insightful policy and practical implications for the Nigerian
Government and Nigerians. The government and Nigerians need to take practical steps to grow and develop
the economy. On the part of the government, apart from the need to transform the agricultural sector by
allocating enough funds to it, the government should establish well-equipped agripreneurship development
centers and organize periodically agripreneurship development programmes for the main purpose of training
and developing both current and potential agripreneurs who will be able to apply todays agricultural
techniques and practices which involve a great deal of creativity and innovation for a successful agribusiness.
The federal government should integrate agripreneurship education into Nigerias education system.
Similarly, the Nigerian people, particularly the youths or graduates should be encouraged to choose
agribusiness as a career.
Originality/value While previous papers have offered different solutions to the current economic crisis
that Nigeria is experiencing, ranging from economic to structural reforms, this paper differs significantly
from others by recommending specifically agripreneurship development as a strategy for revamping
Nigerias economy from its current recession. Moreover, there is a dearth of literature on agripreneurship and
agripreneurship development. This paper therefore fills the literature gap.
Keywords Agriculture, Entrepreneurship, Agribusiness, Economic recession, Agripreneurship,
Agripreneurship development, Agripreneur
Paper type Viewpoint
1. Introduction
Geographically speaking, Nigeria is an African country which shares borders with the
Gulf of Guinea, Republic of Benin, Niger, Chad and Cameroon. Aside from being a
developing nation and an emerging market in Africa, it is richly endowed with both human
and natural resources. Its population is estimated at 171 million people (UNICEF, 2013).
Also, it can boast of a number of mineral resource deposits which include but not limited to
limestone, iron ore, salt, bitumen, zinc, gold, petroleum and coal. Its land mass is estimated at
about 98.3 million hectares out of which 82 million hectares are agricultural or arable land.
Available statistics shows that only 34 million out of the 82 million hectares of Nigerias
arable land are cultivated presently. This suggests that 48 million hectares of Nigerias
agricultural land are uncultivated or unexplored. This also suggests that there are prospects
African Journal of Economic and
Management Studies
Vol. 8 No. 4, 2017
pp. 474-483
© Emerald Publishing Limited
2040-0705
DOI 10.1108/AJEMS-05-2017-0091
Received 10 May 2017
Revised 10 May 2017
Accepted 10 May 2017
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:
www.emeraldinsight.com/2040-0705.htm
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for agribusinesses in Nigeria, even on a large scale. Moreover, agribusiness is a lucrative
venture (Nwibo et al., 2016).
Nigerias economy is facing serious economic challenges at this point in time. There is no
doubt that Nigerias economy is in the state of recession. Recession is an economic situation
in which most macroeconomic variables or factors such as gross domestic product (GDP),
inflation rate, income inequality, interest rate, exchange rate and unemployment rate show
unfavorable growth. In such an economic situation, GDP declines negatively; inflation,
interest and unemployment rates increase uncontrollably; exchange rate fluctuates
persistently; and income inequality heightens sharply. More importantly, when a country
records negative growth in its GDP for two consecutive quarters, it can be concluded that
the countrys economy is in recession (Lee and Goldblatt, 2012; Ulla et al., 2016). Officially,
Nigerias economy plunged into full recession when GDP showed negative growth in the
first and second quarters (0.36 and 2.06, respectively) of 2016. As a matter of fact,
Nigerias GDP showed negative growth throughout the four quarters of 2016
(RTC Advisory Services Ltd, 2016). It should be noted that the journey by a country into
economic recession usually starts years before the signs of recession begin to manifest fully.
As a business or an economic cycle, it normally follows a period of boom as in the case of
Nigeria. For instance, the price of Nigerias crude oil at the international market throughout
2014 and first quarter of 2015 was $100 per barrel on the average. Certainly, that was a
period of boom to Nigeria. The crash of the price of crude oil at the international market
toward the end of 2015, no doubt, contributed in no small measure to the economic
challenges that Nigeria is facing currently. To put it succinctly, the current economic
recession that Nigeria is experiencing is blamed on factors such as overdependence on the
oil sector, policy inconsistency, leadership failure, corruption, bad governance,
overdependence on imported goods and ostensible neglect of important economic sectors
such as the agricultural and manufacturing sectors.
To revamp Nigerias economy from its present state of recession, policymakers,
economic analysts and the government have advocated for diversification of the economy.
In this regard, there seems to be a common understanding and agreement among scholars,
policymakers, economic analysts and the government that agriculture is the answer.
Interestingly, agriculture is regarded as the backbone of the economy of many countries
(Bairwa et al., 2014; Marichamy, 2016; Vyavahare and Bendal, 2012). Indisputably,
agriculture provides raw materials for the industries, income for the farmers, employment
opportunities for the people, food for human consumption and revenues for the government.
The agricultural sector is one of the important economic sectors that contributes
significantly to the economic growth of different countries (Eddine, 2010). In Pakistan, the
agricultural sector contributed 23.4 percent to GDP in 2015 (Usman, 2016). In Malaysia and
India, the agricultural sector contributed 28.8 and 17.4 percent to GDP in 2015, respectively
(Abdkadir and Tunggal, 2015; KPMG, 2016). In Nigeria, the agricultural sector, despite its
neglect, contributed 19.7 percent to GDP in 2015 (National Bureau of Statistics, 2015).
To further underscore the importance of agriculture with respect to the current economic
challenges that Nigeria is facing, extant literature has demonstrated that virtually all
important economic sectors are in recession except the agricultural and telecommunications
sectors (RTC Advisory Services Ltd, 2016).
While the place of agriculture in the economic growth of a nation is not debatable, it is
informative to point out that todays agriculture has gone increasingly sophisticated
(Ahmed et al., 2011; Nagalakshmi and Sudhakar, 2013; Palanivelu and Madhupriya, 2013).
In this regard, new agricultural machinery has been produced. Likewise, improved seeds,
fertilizers, herbicides and pesticides have been developed. Besides, new farming techniques
and practices have emerged in the recent past. Consequently, there is the need for
agripreneurship development. People who are already into agriculture (whether subsistence
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or commercial) or those who would like to go into agriculture in the future must keep abreast
with the modern agricultural techniques and practices. No doubt, that requires a great deal
of creativity and innovation. More specifically, both present and potential agripreneurs
must acquire modern agripreneurial competencies and skills that are required for a
successful agribusiness.
The concept of agripreneurship in the fields of entrepreneurship and agriculture is
relatively new. It is still evolving. As a result, there is a dearth of literature on
agripreneurship and agripreneurship development. This paper therefore fills the literature
gap. It adds to the few existing literature on agripreneurship. Additionally, regarding the
current economic recession that Nigeria is experiencing, previous papers have offered
different solutions, ranging from economic to structural reforms. This paper however differs
significantly from others by recommending specifically agripreneurship development as a
strategy for growing and developing Nigerias economy. Nigeria will be the first beneficiary
of this paper as it offers practicable solutions that could help revamp its economy from
recession. More specifically, this paper has some insightful policy and practical implications
for the Nigerian Government and Nigerians. The Nigerian Government and Nigerians
should take practical steps to grow and develop the economy. Similarly, other nations that
are currently facing similar economic crisis or those that may find themselves in a similar
economic situation in the future will find this piece a workable solution.
The purpose of this paper is to explore agripreneurship development as a strategy for
economic growth and development. To achieve the purpose, the remaining part of this paper
is organized as follows: first, it begins by clarifying key terms such as agribusiness,
agripreneur, agripreneurship and agripreneurship development that are often used in this
paper for proper understanding by the readers. It goes further to examine the benefits and
challenges of agripreneurship development. Next, it itemizes viable business opportunities
in agriculture that people could venture into. And finally, the paper is concluded and
practicable recommendations are put forward.
2. Agripreneurship development
2.1 What is agripreneurship development?
Before we discuss agripreneurship development, there is the need to explain briefly the
following terms: agribusiness, agripreneur and agripreneurship.
Agribusiness is formed from two words: agriculture and business. Agriculture is
defined as the cultivation of land for the production of crops and rearing of animals for
human and industrial use. Business, on the other hand, is defined as any human effort
or activity that is directed at the production and distribution of goods and services that
are capable of satisfying human needs for a profit. Thus, agribusiness as a conflation
simply means agricultural business. It is the application of business methods and
principles to agriculture.
According to Aleke et al. (2011), an agripreneur is defined as a business owner who is self
employed and seeks to create wealth within the agricultural industry(p. 70). Agripreneur is a
person who identifies viable business opportunities in agriculture, gathers resources, establishes
and manages the resulting agricultural enterprise(Carr,2016).Toputitsimply,heorsheisan
individual who owns an agricultural business (agribusiness) (Bose, 2013; Nagalakshmi and
Sudhakar, 2013). Agripreneurs are also called agripreneurial farmers or agricultural
entrepreneurs. Agripreneurs (like entrepreneurs) are self-confident, creative, innovative,
proactive, independent, determined and hardworking (Bairwa et al., 2014; Nwibo et al., 2016).
Agripreneurship has its root in the fields of agriculture and entrepreneurship
(Nwibo et al., 2016). Hence, it is coined from two different words: agriculture and
entrepreneurship. Agriculture is already defined. Entrepreneurship, on the other hand,
consists of initiative taking, organization of resources and acceptance of risks in exploring and
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exploiting business opportunities (Kuratko, 2009). Therefore, agripreneurship can be defined
as the ability and willingness of a person to recognize viable agricultural business
opportunity, gather resources, establish and manage the resulting agribusiness successfully.
Agripreneurship development therefore is defined as the process whereby people are
taught agripreneurial knowledge, skills and competencies that are required to start and
manage an agribusiness successfully. Agripreneurship development, in the context of this
paper, is also called agripreneurship education. Basically, the main purpose of
agripreneurship development is to create agripreneurs (Uneze, 2012). It helps to inculcate
agripreneurship culture into people and to motivate them to choose agribusiness as a career.
In other words, it influences peoples intentions and behaviors toward choosing
agribusiness as a career, by making agriculture attractive. Agripreneurship development
equips people with the agripreneurial skills, competencies and the insight that they need to
identify, explore and exploit viable business opportunities in agriculture.
2.2 Benefits of agripreneurship development
Agripreneurship development is beneficial to both the nation and the individuals, especially
those who are trained and developed entrepreneurially in agriculture (Marichamy, 2016;
Mukembo and Edwards, 2015). The following are the benefits of agripreneurship development.
The importance of agriculture goes beyond the provision of food for human
consumption; it provides job opportunities for the people. The purpose of agripreneurship
development is to train and develop people to become agripreneurs. Agripreneurship
development therefore enhances peoples proclivity to establish agribusiness. It means that
people who own and manage agribusinesses have provided jobs for themselves and will, in
turn, have the opportunity to provide jobs for others.
Usually, businesses generate income for their owners and agriculture is regarded as a
dependable source of livelihood. People who go into agribusiness will make money from it.
Equally, the employees will make a living from the salaries they receive. Thus, both the
owners and the employees of agribusiness become economically empowered and their
standard of living will improve.
Agripreneurship development helps to reduce poverty (Lourenco et al., 2013).
Agribusiness generates income for its owner(s) and the employees. When a greater
percentage of a countrys population is engaged in agribusiness, the level of poverty will be
reduced significantly.
It guarantees food security. When people are trained and developed entrepreneurially in
agriculture, their capacity will be enhanced, and consequently, agricultural productivity will
increase. Increased agricultural productivity guarantees food security for the individuals as
well as for the nation at large.
Generally, agriculture contributes to the economic growth of a nation. Specifically, the
agricultural sector is one of the economic sectors that contributes significantly to a countrys
GDP. When people are developed entrepreneurially in agriculture and their capacity
increases, agricultural productivity will be boosted. This suggests that there will be enough
agricultural output for national consumption and exports. In all, the contribution of the
agricultural sector to GDP will increase.
2.3 Challenges to agripreneurship development
A lot of challenges can impede successful agripreneurship development. Some of the
challenges are.
Lack of or insufficient funds can impede agripreneurship development. On the part of the
government, this could mean lack of or inadequate funds to establish agripreneurship
development centers (ADCs) or to organize agripreneurship development programmes
(ADPs) for the purpose of training and developing both current and potential agripreneurs.
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Similarly, on the part of the trained agripreneurs, it could imply lack of or insufficient funds
to start an agribusiness of their choice.
Peoples attitude toward agriculture and agribusiness is another challenge. Many people,
particularly the youths, do not see or would not like to choose agribusiness as a career.
Many graduates have abandoned agriculture for white collar jobs. Some people erroneously
think that agriculture is meant for the people in the rural areas.
Lack of or poor agricultural infrastructure can work against successful agripreneurship
development. The agricultural infrastructure referred to are: agricultural machinery, storage
facilities, improved seeds and agrochemicals, irrigation facilities, energy, transportation and
marketing infrastructure.
Lack of agricultural-related policies and laws can obstruct agripreneurship development.
Many countries do not have agricultural-related policies and laws that encourage people to
go into agriculture and agribusiness.
Dearth of agricultural experts with the modern agripreneurial knowledge, skills and
competencies can militate against agripreneurship development. Let it be reiterated that
agriculture has developed tremendously lately. Thus, people who are already into
agriculture or those who would like to go into it in the future need to be equipped with the
knowledge about the modern farming techniques and practices. Where people are willing to
be trained, the unavailability or shortage of professionals with modern agripreneurial
expertise can impede their training.
2.4 Agricultural business opportunities
A lot of business opportunities exist in agriculture (Nwibo et al., 2016). Below are the
examples of such agricultural business opportunities that people could venture into:
(1) apple plantation business;
(2) beans farming business;
(3) bees farming business;
(4) carrot farming business;
(5) cashew plantation business;
(6) cassava farming business;
(7) cattle rearing business;
(8) cocoa farming business;
(9) cotton wool farming business;
(10) fish farming business;
(11) flower farming business;
(12) goat and sheep rearing business;
(13) grass cutter farming business;
(14) groundnut farming business;
(15) maize farming business;
(16) mango plantation business;
(17) mushroom farming business;
(18) onion farming business;
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(19) orange orchard business;
(20) palm tree (fruits) plantation business
(21) pig farming business;
(22) pineapple plantation business;
(23) poultry farming business;
(24) rabbit rearing business
(25) rice farming business;
(26) rubber plantation business;
(27) snail farming business
(28) sugarcane plantation business;
(29) sweet and Irish potatoes farming business;
(30) vegetable farming business; and
(31) yam cultivation business.
3. Conclusions and recommendations
This paper explores agripreneurship development as a strategy for revamping Nigerias
economy from recession. The existence of an unfavorable growth of macroeconomic factors or
variables such as decline in GDP, high inflation rate, high interest rate, high income inequality
and high unemployment rate indicate that the countrys economy is in the state of recession.
As stated at the introduction section, Nigerias economy officially slipped into full recession
when GDP showed negative growth consecutively in the first and second quarters of 2016.
Though the Nigerian Government has initiated different economic policies and structural
reforms to steer the economy out of recession, policymakers, economic analysts and
renowned scholars have advocated for diversification of the economy. More specifically,
many people and institutions have suggested agricultural transformation as one of the ways
Nigeria can revamp its economy from recession. As stated earlier, agriculture has
undergone a lot of developments in the recent past. Unfortunately, Nigerias agricultural
sector, which is supposed to be one of the major contributors to GDP, had suffered
ostensible neglect in the past by successive Nigerian Governments. Similarly, the Nigerian
youths, particularly graduates, have abandoned agriculture for white collar jobs whose
demands far outweigh its supplies, thereby resulting in mass unemployment.
It is no longer news that Nigerias economy is in the state of recession. Rather, what
Nigerians and the world at large would like to hear is that Nigeria has recovered from its
economic recession. Nevertheless, it should be pointed out that recovering from an economic
recession does not happen by chance. The Nigerian Government and Nigerians must take
certain practical steps to steer the economy out of recession. In this regard, while agriculture is
regarded as the vehicle that a country can use to move out of economic recession,
agripreneurship development is the engine that actually propels the wheel of steering the
economy out of recession. Therefore, considering the benefits of agripreneurship development
already discussed, this paper stresses the need for agripreneurship development as a strategy
for revamping Nigerias economy from its present state of recession.
It should be emphasized that Nigeria has a vast area of agricultural land (about 48 million
hectares) that is uncultivated or unexplored. This implies that there are bountiful
opportunities such as export earnings and career or employment opportunities that abound in
the agricultural sector that could be exploited for economic growth and development.
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To exploit fully the opportunities, the Nigerian Government should embark on an aggressive
agripreneurship development. It takes agripreneurial farmers who are creative and innovative
to exploit fully the opportunities in the agricultural sector and for the agricultural sector to
contribute significantly to the economic growth and development. In view of the foregoing, the
following practicable recommendations are made:
(1) The federal government should assess Nigerias agripreneurship readiness and the
development capacity in this area. To this end, the following issues should be resolved:
What resources (in terms of funds, qualified agricultural experts and facilities)
do Nigeria need to evolve and implement a comprehensive and realistic
agripreneurship development strategy?
What resources do Nigeria currently have that can be mobilized and deployed to
design and implement a realistic ADP?
What resources are not available? How and from where can they be obtained?
Resolving the above issues will enable the federal government to set specific
agripreneurship development goals and develop appropriate strategies to
achieve them. It will reveal where Nigeria is with respect to agripreneurship
development, where it wants to be in the future and how it will get there.
More importantly, assessing such readiness and capacity to engage in an
agripreneur-driven economic growth and development is crucial for nation
building. This could be the most strategic way to get started by exploring and
exploiting Nigerias current opportunities in this area.
(2) The Nigerian Government, at the federal, state and local levels, should establish
functional ADCs, with different units for specific areas of agribusiness, where both
current and potential agripreneurs can be trained and developed. The centers should
be well equipped and agricultural experts with the knowledge of modern farming
techniques and practices should be employed to train agripreneurs. Aside from
establishing ADCs, the government should also organize at regular intervals ADPs
to train different categories of agripreneurs based on their needs. Agripreneurs
should be equipped with the agripreneurial skills, competencies and the insight that
they need to identify, explore and exploit viable business opportunities in
agriculture. As stated earlier, agriculture has developed greatly in the recent past.
New agricultural techniques and practices have emerged. As a result, agripreneurs
should be equipped with todays agripreneurial knowledge, competencies and skills
that are required to establish and manage an agribusiness successfully. Establishing
ADCs or organizing ADPs to train and develop agripreneurs will increase their
capacity and boost agricultural productivity. The implication is that when
agricultural productivity increases, there will be enough for exports and that will
enhance appreciably the contribution of the agricultural sector to GDP.
(3) The federal government should integrate agripreneurship education into Nigerias
education system, particularly at the primary and secondary education levels.
The curriculum for the agripreneurship education should be essentially practical
oriented. This will help to inculcate agripreneurship culture into the students.
In addition, as a matter of policy, the government should mandate all primary and
secondary schools to establish school farms, where students will be exposed to
modern agricultural techniques and practices. It will help to increase their
disposition toward choosing agribusiness as a career in the future.
(4) The Nigerian graduates should be encouraged to choose agribusiness as a career.
Instead of allowing them after graduation to expend their energy and time in
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searching for jobs that are not available, they should be encouraged to go into
agribusiness. To this end, the government should incorporate ADP into the one-year
compulsory national service program, that is, National Youth Service Corps for the
purposes of training and developing graduates to become agripreneurs.
For example, graduates should be allowed to choose any agribusiness of their
choice and be trained. In addition to equipping them with agripreneurial skills and
competencies related to the agribusiness of their choice, the government can
encourage them by providing financial assistance at the end of the training program
to enable them start their own agribusinesses. By going into agribusiness, it means
that they have provided jobs for themselves and will, in turn, have the opportunity
to provide jobs for other people. Certainly, they will make money from the
agribusiness and their standard of living will be enhanced considerably. This means
that the rate of unemployment will be reduced significantly. The implication is that
when people are economically empowered, their demands for goods and services will
increase. Consequently, business organizations will increase production and more
people will be employed in order to meet increased customersdemands. In the end,
economic activities will be stimulated.
(5) To realize fully the place of agriculture in the economic growth of the country, the
Nigerian Government, particularly the legislative body should formulate
agricultural-related policies and laws that will make agriculture and agribusiness
lucrative. More specifically, the government can address this by creating tax
incentives or holidays for agripreneurs. Besides, the government can grant
temporary duty waivers to agripreneurs to import agricultural inputs such as
tractors, improved seeds and agrochemicals. The implication is that when
agriculture or agribusiness is made lucrative, people will go into it willingly. In the
long run, they will become economically empowered, poverty level will be reduced
significantly, unemployment rate will be reduced considerably and food security will
be guaranteed. Above all, economic activities will be stimulated.
(6) There are certain cultural issues that could impede agripreneurship development. One
of the cultural issues is risk-taking culture. Generally, businesses involve taking risks.
Many people do not always believe that making mistakes is acceptable in business.
As a result, they are afraid to take risks. The government should create an environment
that will make agripreneurs to know that there are challenges or failures in the pursuit
of laudable success. The government can educate agripreneurs on the possible risks
that are associated with certain agribusinesses. In this regard, provision of timely,
relevant and accurate data such as weather forecast by the government is crucial.
Another important cultural issue that is worth mentioning is some cultural norms that
forbid women from taking part in some activities, particularly in some parts of Africa.
Such cultural beliefs (where they exist) should be dispelled by the government. In fact,
women should be encouraged to go into any agribusiness of their choice.
(7) Most agricultural activities are undertaken by people in the rural areas. Thus,
the government should ensure that agripreneurs in the rural areas have access to the
basic agricultural infrastructure like their counterparts in the urban areas.
The infrastructure that should be made available to rural agripreneurs includes
storage facilities, banking services, energy, irrigation facilities, good transportation
systems and effective communication network. Besides, the government should
initiate and implement programs that will increase the rural agripreneurs
awareness of and access to new markets. More importantly, the government should
assist rural agripreneurs in developing strong skills that will help them in
identifying market opportunities and assessing the feasibility of such opportunities.
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(8) The government should provide agripreneurs access to financial capital beyond
what the commercial and microfinance banks can provide. To do this, the
government can set aside certain amount of money to be given to agripreneurs in the
form of soft or short-term loans at a zero or reduced interest rate through designated
banks or agencies. Similarly, the government through the apex bank, the Central
Bank of Nigeria, can mandate all commercial banks to reserve certain amount of
money to be given specifically to small-scale agripreneurial farmers at a reduced
interest rate and with less stringent conditions.
(9) The government should subsidize agricultural inputs such as tractors, feeds, improved
seeds and agrochemicals for the agripreneurs. In recent times, farming has become
capital intensive. Agripreneurs need a huge amount of capital to be able to start a
particular agribusiness. The government can assist agripreneurs by subsidizing
certain agricultural inputs with a view to boosting agricultural productivity.
(10) Although the government may not be directly involved in agriculture or
agribusiness, it is its responsibility to provide the enabling environment for
agriculture or agribusiness to flourish. Specifically, the government should invest
massively in agriculture. Thus, the government in its budgeting system should
allocate enough funds to the agricultural sector. This will enable it to provide the
necessary infrastructure such as good road network, functional irrigation system
and adequate storage facilities to assist agripreneurs.
(11) Lastly, there is a widespread apathy among Nigerians toward agriculture.
The Nigerian Government should initiate and execute enlightenment programs that
will help to change peoples attitude toward agriculture. Nigerians, particularly the
youths should be made to see agriculture as a reliable source of livelihood.
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Further reading
National Bureau of Statistics (2016), Unemployment/under-employment watch, National Bureau
of Statistics, pp. 1-15.
Corresponding author
Innocent Otache can be contacted at: otache2@gmail.com
For instructions on how to order reprints of this article, please visit our website:
www.emeraldgrouppublishing.com/licensing/reprints.htm
Or contact us for further details: permissions@emeraldinsight.com
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... Agripreneurship is a synonym for agricultural entrepreneurship (Bairwa et al., 2014;Mukembo & Edwards, 2015).The competence and willingness to identify potential opportunities in the agricultural sector, assemble the necessary resources and build to run the ensuing business successfully in this sector is another definition of agripreneurship. Therefore, agripreneurship development can be understood as the process by which individuals are taught the agripreneurial knowledge, skills, and competence necessary to successfully and effectively operate an agribusiness (Arafat et al., 2020;Otache, 2017;Pindado & Sánchez, 2017). Like entrepreneurs, agripreneurs are self-confident, innovative, proactive, self-reliant, focused and diligent. ...
... Agriculture is an indicator of economic growth worldwide, particularly in developing countries. It generated employment opportunities for the general public, raw materials for manufacturers, income for farmers, and government taxes (Bairwa et al., 2014;Otache, 2017). Despite the significant transformation, the agriculture industry remains one of the most important internationally (Fitz-Koch et al., 2017). ...
... To train and create opportunities for current and potential agripreneurs who can implement today's agricultural methods, which demand a tremendous level of innovation, to transform the agricultural sector completely, the government need to set up well-equipped development centres for agripreneurs and hold regular agripreneurs programs. (Arafat et al., 2020;Otache, 2017;Pindado & Sánchez, 2017) have suggested studying entrepreneurship in certain sectors to understand the phenomenon better. Proceeding further, we concentrate on early-stage entrepreneurial activity in the agriculture industry. ...
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Purpose/Problem – The study explores the agripreneurial characteristics of agricultural sciences and business students in Indian universities. This manuscript investigates agripreneurship concerning innovation, opportunity-seeking abilities, risk-taking propensity, and decision-making abilities by comparing agripreneurially inclined and not-inclined students and considering their implications for agriculture development efforts in the Indian context. Design/methodology/approach – A convenient sampling method was employed to collect data from university students using a seven-point Likert scale based on an 18-item self-administered questionnaire. For data collection, Google forms were sent through LinkedIn, WhatsApp, Instagram, Telegram and email. Students were asked, "Have you ever seriously considered becoming an agripreneurs" and "What career option will you choose after completing your degree?" to understand the agripreneurial inclination. Findings- Through the application of a t-test, it was found that agripreneurial characteristics are more prevalent among agripreneurially inclined students than non inclined ones. Thus, agripreneurially keen students have higher risk taking propensity, innovativeness, opportunity-seeking abilities, and decision-making abilities. Research limitations/implications – The study is bound to undergraduate and postgraduation students from agricultural backgrounds from Aligarh Muslim University; randomly selected university students were included in the pilot survey. The sample size is somewhat limited, making it challenging to comprehend the agripreneurial characteristics among students. Conclusion – The country's economic performance can be impacted by agripreneurship since the agricultural sector creates job opportunities for its workforce, which makes up roughly 60% of the total population. This study will contribute to the existing literature. It may help policymakers and universities to enhance the quality of agripreneurial education and training to cultivate the creativity of agripreneurs. Originality/value – The study offers to comprehend variations between agripreneurially inclined and non-inclined students. The manuscript includes four agripreneurial characteristics; risk-taking abilities and innovativeness are extensively used in the existing literature. On the other hand, opportunity-seeking and decision making abilities are scarcely ever used to describe the agripreneurial characteristics of university students Keywords: Agripreneurship, Entrepreneurship, Agripreneurially inclined, agripreneurial characteristics, agricultural Students
... The level of education and exposure will provide a solid foundation for learning innovative skills, allowing them to actively and successfully engage in agribusiness where the benefits may be enjoyed directly by the participating youth and indirectly by the society. In addition to revamping the agricultural sector via increase in funding opportunities, some have argued that government, especially in collaboration with the private sector should be able to establish well-equipped agripreneurship development centres and set up regular agripreneurship development programmes to empower youth so that they can become the drivers of economic growth (Otache, 2017;Ouko et al., 2022). According to Otache (2017), these initiatives should be focused upon training and developing existing and future agripreneurs by equipping them with the skills to apply modern agricultural technologies and practices which would eventually foster creativity and innovation thereby enabling them to build successful agribusinesses that can drive growth and sustainability in the agricultural sector. ...
... In addition to revamping the agricultural sector via increase in funding opportunities, some have argued that government, especially in collaboration with the private sector should be able to establish well-equipped agripreneurship development centres and set up regular agripreneurship development programmes to empower youth so that they can become the drivers of economic growth (Otache, 2017;Ouko et al., 2022). According to Otache (2017), these initiatives should be focused upon training and developing existing and future agripreneurs by equipping them with the skills to apply modern agricultural technologies and practices which would eventually foster creativity and innovation thereby enabling them to build successful agribusinesses that can drive growth and sustainability in the agricultural sector. Ouko et al. (2022) review the prospect of youth's venture in agripreneurship for poverty reduction and improvement of rural employment in Kenya based on a comprehensive literature review related to youth engagement in agripreneurship. ...
... For these to be chieved, Ouko et al. (2022) recommend entrepreneurial education, training of rural youths and provision of start-up capital for the graduating students to increase the chances of uptake of agriculture as an enterprise through the establishment of agripreneurship ventures. Similar to the view of Otache (2017) in Nigeria, they suggest that the government should establish a developmental fund to support the start-up process of agripreneurship to establish agricultural incubation centres in Kenya which will help in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and Vision 2030 goals of transformation of smallholder agriculture from subsistence to an innovative, commercially oriented, and modern agricultural sector while eradicating poverty and providing employment opportunities to the youth. ...
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This study focuses on youth agripreneurship in Northeast Nigeria by thoroughly analysing the role of USAID Feed the Future Nigeria Agriculture Activity in promoting youth participation in agribusiness for sustainable income generation, livelihoods and poverty reduction. The study employs survey research design and collects data on the respondents/participants or beneficiaries of the intervention in the area of crop production, spray service provision and agri processing focusing on Tomapepo production. The study's sample size of 380 was determined from the total population of 7,986 participants in the program and data was collected using structured questionnaires administered by trained data collectors. Descriptive analysis method was used to analyse the data. The findings revealed that, 96.28% of the respondents indicated that FTF program taught them crop production in more detail demonstrating the how effective the program has been able to increase knowledge and skills in crop production. Furthermore, over 75% of the Spray Service Providers (SSPs) have gained better understanding of responsible pesticide use, illustrating how effective FTF has been in bringing vital knowledge and best practice into this agribusiness. Similarly, a combined 90.69% of respondents self-rated their capability for business planning and management as "Excellent" or Good", together reflecting a strong grounding in business planning and management among nearly all participants. The study recommended among others that government and non-governmental organisations especially USAID Feed the Future, should consider sustaining and expanding such training intervention programs, ensuring that they are accessible to a broader audience while addressing any areas of the training that might require improvement. This approach will help maximize the program's impact, equipping younger agripreneurs with the skills needed to thrive in agriculture. There should be a focus on creating an enabling environment that allows these young agripreneurs to translate their skills into substantial productivity gains, thereby contributing more effectively to food security and economic development in Northeast Nigeria.
... Agriculture has the potential to contribute to the economic development of the country (Praburaj, Design, & Nadu, 2018;Sertoğlu, Ugural, & Bekun, 2017;Tahamipour & Mahmoudi, 2018). Literature review reveals that agriculture provides jobs, income and food (Otache, 2017). Specifically, it provides food for the farmers and ensures food security for the country. ...
... More importantly, the Nigerian youths including young graduates should embrace agriculture and agribusiness. Nigerian youths should take advantage of the availability of vast agricultural land and agribusiness opportunities in Nigeria (Otache, 2017). They could go into farming of crops such as maize and millets or go into poultry and fish farming. ...
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The world has been shocked by the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic and no country is spared of the effects of the pandemic. However, the effects and strategies to cope with the effects of the pandemic might vary from one country to another. The purpose of this article, therefore, is to identify and discuss the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic on the Nigeria's economy and possible coping strategies. In addition to the viewpoint of the author, this paper undertook a review of the related literature regarding the Covid-19 pandemic and how Nigerians and the Nigerian government can cope with the effects of the pandemic. The review reveals that the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic in Nigeria include jobs losses, a sharp drop in income of the informal workers and the poor, food insecurity, business and school closures, a steep decline in oil revenues and economic uncertainties. This paper has recommended some measures to be adopted by Nigerians and the Nigerian government in order to cope with the devastating effects of the Covid-19 pandemic and similar pandemics in future. The measures include monetary and fiscal policy measures, diversification of the economy through agriculture, revamping of the manufacturing sector, acquisition of relevant ICT skills, adoption of e-learning model by schools, adoption of e-business model by business organizations and the need to have multiple sources of income.
... It was identified that agriculture entrepreneurship is majorly synced with farm innovations and farm entrepreneurship (Dias et al., 2019;Lans et al., 2013). Agripreneurs must acquire modern skills and agripreneurial competencies that are required for a successful business (Igwe, 2020;Lopez-Garcia & Chin, 2005;Otache, 2017;Ouko et al., 2022). "Agripreneurs may be defined as innovators, create new ideas in doing things in agriculture sectors and drive the change in the economy" (Ndedi & Feussi, 2018). ...
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The use of precision agricultural technology has been shown to increase yields while decreasing the farmer's exposure to risk. Despite women's important involvement in agriculture in many nations, there remains a technological gap between the genders. Particular focus on agriculture's essential role in alleviating poverty and hunger. The literature gap in precision agriculture technology adoption by women agripreneurs needs to be addressed. This study presents an integrative review of the literature aimed at identifying the factors that influence precision agriculture technology adoption among women and proposes recommendations for mitigating the gap. The review highlights precision agriculture technology adoption theories and various factors. Also, it discovered several social and policy implications, as well as training programs, to close the gap. The recommendations given to policymakers are to connect younger, technically-savvy women with older, less technically literate women farmers to address the digital literacy divide. Future research can test the empirical relationship between precision agriculture technology adoption variables on women agripreneurs specifically on various technologies used in agriculture and find the viability. By addressing the gap women agripreneurs will be equipped to adopt precision agriculture technology and digital agriculture, which will ultimately benefit the rural farming community and achieve sustainability.
... India is becoming a major startup destination as its urban sector also bursts with new entrepreneurial vigour. Development of agribusiness contributes to economic progress by lowering poverty, ensuring food security, and creating a large number of work possibilities (Otache, 2017 ...
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Agripreneurship could potentially be used as an instrumental means to address issues like low productivity, fragmented landholdings, and uncertain markets in India's agricultural industry. Combining entrepreneurship and agriculture, agribusiness encourages creative, sustainable methods that boost resilience, productivity, and profitability. It includes a variety of pursuits that promote rural development, food security, and environmental preservation, such as organic farming, agro-processing, and agritourism. The expansion of agripreneurship has been propelled by important factors such as market orientation, legislative assistance, and technological adoption, which have reduced urban migration and created opportunities. This article also addresses issues like low technical awareness, financial limitations, and inadequate infrastructure faced by agripreneurs. Agripreneurship offers an avenue to economic growth, poverty reduction, and Review Article Swetha et al.; Arch. 483 improved livelihoods by encouraging innovation, capacity building, and sustainable practices. Further successful case studies highlight agripreneurship's capacity to stimulate rural economies, and appropriate policies and institutional measures were suggested to facilitate its extensive adoption. This represents an enormous shift in India's agricultural landscape.
... Agripreneurship, also known as agricultural entrepreneurship is person's ability to identify profitable agricultural business opportunities and establish ventures that integrate inventiveness for profitable agricultural ventures (Otache, 2017;Yusoff et al., 2016). Agripreneurship has certain characteristics that are exclusive to the agricultural sector, even if it shares similarities with entrepreneurship in that both require opportunity recognition, self-motivation, taking calculated risks, and a desire for success (Díaz-Pichardo et al., 2012;Shane, 2007). ...
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Introduction Entrepreneurship in agricultural sector is a key enabler of rural development and economic growth. This research delves into the entrepreneurial behavior of vegetable growers involved in polyhouse protected farming and focuses on the factors that influence their entrepreneurial pursuits. Methods The research employed a mixed sampling methodology and the data collection was done by personally interviews. Whereas, data were analyzed using various statistical techniques including Entrepreneurial behavior index computation and Kendall’s tau correlation. Results The results of the study reveal noteworthy associations between factors such as farm income, experience in protected cultivation, area allocated for polyhouse cultivation and extension contact with entrepreneurial behavior. Notably, income consistently demonstrated a positive correlation with all aspects of entrepreneurial behavior, while experience and extension contact also exhibited significant positive relationships. Conversely, education level displayed a negative correlation with risk-taking ability but a positive correlation with other dimensions such as cosmopoliteness and innovativeness. However, family size and gender did not demonstrate significant associations with entrepreneurial behavior. Discussion The findings underscored the intricate nature of entrepreneurial behavior among vegetable growers which necessitate tailored interventions to foster entrepreneurship in this sector. The research recommends policy measures like financial incentives, enhanced access to extension services and promoting collaboration among polyhouse cultivators to encourage entrepreneurship. These initiatives aim to overcome financial barriers, improve technical knowledge and address structural challenges, ultimately fostering sustainable entrepreneurship and agricultural development.
... Entrepreneurial skills must be considered in agricultural production to make agribusiness activities profitable. Eventually, a person who dares to grasp the opportunity in agriculture and make a profit through novel resources, processes and technology (Aleke et al., 2011;Otache, 2017). Factually, agripreneurs also former who is conduct agricultural forming activities through creativity, innovativeness, proactiveness, hardworking determination and ensuring profit Bose, 2013;Devkota et al., 2023). ...
Chapter
Climate change has disrupted weather cycles, impacting agriculture and highlighting the need for organized agricultural knowledge. “Agripreneurship,” derived from entrepreneurship, involves entrepreneurial activities in agriculture. Information and Communication Technology (ICT) modernizes agriculture by enhancing farmer communication, improving crop quality, aiding weather forecasting, selecting suitable soils, optimizing fertilizer and pesticide use, providing financial guidance, and enabling e-marketing. ICT applications facilitate timely information sharing and widespread participation, fostering agricultural innovations and technological adaptation. This paper reviews the connection between ICT, agripreneurial innovation, and sustainable development. It examines how ICT fosters agripreneurship sustainability and enhances knowledge impact. The study confirms that ICT use in agriculture drives innovation for sustainable development, presenting a framework that highlights ICT's role in agripreneurial innovation. Future research directions and study limitations are also discussed.
... There has been much discussion among scholars on the definition of agri-entrepreneurship (Bairwa et al., 2014;Lans et al., 2020;McElwee, 2006McElwee, , 2008Pindado and S� anchez, 2017;Vik and McElwee, 2011). Otache (2017) defines agri-entrepreneurship as the capability and willingness of a person to opportunity recognition, resource mobilization, and launch an agricultural enterprise. Pindado and S� anchez (2017) define it as the decision made by an individual to create an agricultural venture. ...
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Purpose Agri-entrepreneurship is considered a promising strategy to address poverty, particularly in developing countries. However, embarking on an agri-entrepreneurial venture poses significant challenges. The existing literature on agri-entrepreneurship in developing countries, particularly focusing on smallholders’ constraints, is often scattered and fragmented, focusing mainly on individual barriers rather than providing a comprehensive understanding of the multifaceted constraints. Therefore, this study aims to fill the gap by conducting a systematic review to identify, categorize, and prioritize the smallholders’ constraints. Design/methodology/approach By systematically reviewing literature retrieved from Scopus and Web of Science, published between 2013 and 2023, and following the PRISMA guidelines, this study identifies agri-entrepreneurial constraints through content analysis and categorizes and prioritizes them using thematic analysis. Findings This study revealed a range of constraints which are categorized into thematic areas including market-related challenges, financial constraints, limitations in human capital, institutional barriers, socio-cultural factors, technological shortcomings, and infrastructural challenges. Moreover, the study examines the role of social networks and their impacts on the livelihoods of smallholders in developing countries. Research limitations/implications The study’s scope is limited to constraints for agri-entrepreneurship, particularly for smallholders in developing countries. The review considers English articles published between 2013 and 2023, and ABS 3 and above ranked journal articles. Originality/value The study systematically identifies, categorizes, and prioritizes the significant constraints to agri-entrepreneurship in developing countries by conducting a systematic review and identifying research gaps and future directions.
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Women agripreneurs' expertise, abilities, and passion are some of the most effective strategies to improve their financial and social status. There is a wealth of systematic literature on women in entrepreneurship, as well as bibliometric reviews on women in entrepreneurship and sustainability. However, the systematic literature on women in agriculture or agribusiness on grey literature receives relatively little attention. The present study applies SPAR-4-SLR and TCCM frameworks to validate the research questions. Women frequently encounter disempowerment in terms of their participation, influence, and control over agricultural decision-making and income, which leads to the existence of gender disparity. Access to financial services could potentially reduce rural-to-urban migration by providing enhanced local economic opportunities. Suggestions provided for a supportive environment that values and respects the contributions of women in agriculture, facilitating the adoption of various technologies to break down barriers and reduce gender disparities. The investigation highlights the need for further research on the topics of female agripreneurship, female empowerment and digital technology, women's perspectives on technology and innovations in agriculture, and gender disparities in agripreneurship, all with the aim of achieving sustainable agriculture. The novelty of the study is the usage of the TCCM framework in the grey literature on women in agriculture and a proposed framework for technology-enhanced women's empowerment in agriculture.
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The context conditions for third sector organizations (TSOs) in Europe have significantly changed as a result of the global economic crisis, including decreasing levels of public funding and changing modes of relations with the state. The effect of economic recession, however, varies across Europe. This article aims to understand why this is the case. It analyses the impact of economic recession and related policy changes on third sector development in Europe. The economic effects on TSOs are thereby placed into a broader context of changing third sector policies and welfare state restructuring. The article focuses on two research questions: (1) how has the changing policy environment affected the development of the third sector? And (2) what kind of strategies have TSOs adopted to respond to these changes? The article first investigates general trends in Europe, based on a conceptual model that focuses on economic recession and austerity policies with regard to the third sector. In a second step of analysis, the article provides five country case studies that exemplify policy changes and responses from the third sector in France, Germany, the Netherlands, Poland, and Spain. The article argues that three different development paths can be identified across Europe. In some countries (France and Spain), TSOs face a strong effect of economic recession. In other countries (Germany and Poland) the development of the third sector remains largely stable, albeit at different levels, whereas in the Netherlands, TSOs rather experience changes in the policy environment than a direct impact of economic decline. The article also shows that response strategies of the third sector in Europe depend on the context conditions. The article is based on the European project “Third Sector Impact” (TSI). It combines an analysis of statistical information with qualitative data from interviews with third sector representatives.
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A shift from agriculture to agribusiness is an essential pathway to revitalize Indian agriculture and to make more attractive and profitable venture. Agripreneurship have the potential to contribute to a range of social and economic development such as employment generation, income generation, poverty reduction and improvements in nutrition, health and overall food security in the national economy. Agripreneurship has potential to generate growth, diversifying income, providing widespread employment and entrepreneurial opportunities in rural areas. This paper mainly focused on basic concepts of agripreneurship, entrepreneurship skills, and needs of agripreneurship development in India along with major reason for promoting agripreneurship development in country.
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Purpose – The purpose of this study is to evaluate the success of a scheme, supported by the Ugandan Agribusiness Initiative Trust, to fund gender and entrepreneurship training for women farmers in the north of Uganda (Gulu District and Lira District). Moreover, this paper reflects upon our experience of delivering training for women farmers and highlights key observations related to women’s entrepreneurship in Uganda. Design/methodology/approach – A practitioner-based reflection which shares the experiences of the process of developing and delivering gender and entrepreneurship training for women in Uganda. Findings – Through the experience of running gender and entrepreneurship training for women farmers in Uganda, a series of barriers to female rural entrepreneurs are highlighted: lack of access to credit, gender inequality, poor infrastructure, lack of access to knowledge and education, negative attitudes towards women and few initiatives to facilitate economic and business success. Originality/value – This paper provides reflection of the experience gained from the delivery of training and interaction with women farmers and entrepreneurs in Uganda.
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Agripreneurship is an employment strategy that can lead to economic self-sufficiency of rural people. Training is a key elements for the promotion of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) for agripreneurship development, particularly for the first generation agripreneurs. These can result in improved performance of an individual which can contribute to employment generation, poverty reduction and Human Resource Development. This study was conducted in two states of India i.e. Uttarakhand and Punjab state to assess the entrepreneurial characterstics of the agripreneurs. One training center from each state was randomly selected for the present study i.e. College of Agribusiness Management (CABM), Pantnagar and Indian Society of Agribusiness Professional (ISAP), Amritsar (Punjab). The data were collected with the help of semi structured interview schedule from 60 respondent each from selected states totalling 120 agripreneurs. The results of the study depicted that majority of the respondents (70.00%) had medium level of achievement motivation; nearly sixty percent had medium level of risk taking and leadership ability and medium level of decision making ability with percentage representation of 71.67.
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Purpose The purpose of this paper is to critically examine how social augmented parameters impact on the effective adoption of information and communication technology (ICT) by small‐scale agribusinesses operating in Southeast Nigeria. The relevance of incorporating social imperatives in scholarship focused on technology adoption is due to its role in sustaining the process of adoption and diffusion. Design/methodology/approach Data were gathered from a focus group made up of 27 agribusiness proprietors affiliated with a state cooperative based in the south‐eastern Nigerian state of Ebonyi. Findings This paper puts forward an argument that to ensure successful diffusion of innovation, a balance must be maintained between the amount of effort expended in the design of ICT and social factors such as language and traditional life. The paper finds that a willingness of indigenous ICT users is particularly influenced by the recognition and incorporation of visible social imperatives during the adoption process. Research limitations/implications The outcome of this study highlights important issues for ICT adoption. One particular area that must be taken into consideration is the adoption channel. Perceptions of ICT adoption will differ significantly among adopters. For this reason, the need for developing an appropriate adoption channel that ensures successful diffusion of the innovation should be recognised. Originality/value This study contributes to ongoing research in ICT innovation adoption in small agribusinesses operating in indigenous societies. The theoretical implications of this paper are the development of a conceptual ICT adoption framework that emphasises social imperatives. The paper also demonstrates that agricultural enterprises should be treated as ‘normal’ firms in their own right.
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The paper aimed to advocate the adoption of agripreneurship education as a special form of entrepreneurship education for the enhancement of the potential of agriculture sector to ensure food security. It argued that food security is necessary for supporting the dream vision of Nigeria to be among the league of 20 largest world economies by 2020. Accordingly, agripreneurship education should be compulsory from basic level to tertiary level of our educational system. In order to support this, agripreneurship mentoring for young graduates must be carried out by successful agribusinesses and a tax regime put in place for agripreneurship education. Further, the paper showed how such model could translate into increased economic opportunities and food security for the household and the nation. Finally, a policy to support access to international markets for agricultural commodities, endowment for research in agripreneurship, national merit award to successful agripreneurs and increased support to the study of agricultural based courses were recommendations.
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This study is about to be the contribution of agriculture sector in the GDP growth rate of Pakistan. The important variables of this study is major crops, live stocks, other crops which is contribute in the agriculture sector and after that study also provide the results of whole contribution of agriculture sector in the GDP growth rate of Pakistan. Most of this study is based on secondary data and study has taken 25 years past data from economic survey of Pakistan and the period is (1990-2014). For justifying their results researcher fit the regression model for this study. Our results show that there is a strong relationship in our variables agriculture sector and GDP growth rate. Research also provides the significant impact of Major crops and other crops on agriculture sector and contribution towards (GDP) Gross Domestic Product. Live-stock is also major part of agriculture and has significant contribution in agriculture sector.
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Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to analyze and understand the impact of the global financial crisis during 2007‐2009. Furthermore, the paper seeks to identiy critical impacts upon the festival and event industry as a result of this crisis and to identify strategies to help members of the industry positively advance in the future. Design/methodology/approach – Festival and event industry professionals were surveyed electronically about their business performance during the current global recession and about their potential strategies for coping in the short term and long term. Findings – It was found that about the half of respondents' profit margins decreased during the recent financial crisis. The respondents indicated that primary factors that impacted the decrease were reduced available sponsorship funding and the general effects of economic recession on all other revenue sources. The festival and event professionals expected the industry to grow and perform at a very conservative pace over the two years (2011 and 2012) following the recession. The strategies that the festival and event professionals intended to use to build successful businesses following the recession were “increase marketing efforts,” “work to reduce expenses overall,” and “increase the use of technology”. Research limitations/implications – The findings of this study solely reflect the US festival and event industry. Practical implications – The significant contribution of this study is the analysis and understanding of the direct impact of the recent recession on the festival and event industry and also providing additional knowledge of changes being made by the industry in direct response to the economic recession of 2007‐2009. Originality/value – The paper describes the first study of its kind to measure the direct impact of the global recession on the festival and event industry. The findings provide a guide to assist festival and event leaders to make better decisions to deal with both the current recession and future downturns. It also serves as a foundation to measure the performance of the festival and event industry in various economic environments.
Article
Purpose The purpose of this paper is to assess the role of agriculture in economic growth and its interactions with other sectors of the Tunisian economy. Design/methodology/approach Johansen's multivariate approach is used to study the cointegration of the different sectors of the Tunisian economy and overcome the problem of spurious regression. Special attention is paid to investigate non‐causality between agriculture and other economic sectors. Findings Empirical results suggest that all Tunisian economic sectors cointegrate and tend to move together. In addition, weak exogeneity for the agricultural sector is rejected and this underlines the fact that the agricultural sector should be considered by policymakers in the analysis of intersector growth. However, in the short run, agriculture in Tunisia seems to have a partial role as a driving force in the growth of other non‐agricultural sectors and agricultural growth may be conducive only to the agro‐food industry sub‐sector. In addition, while Tunisia started improving quality of services and restructuring the banking sector to make it “internationally” viable, this paper's statistical results indicate that the agricultural sector does not fully benefit from the development of the commerce and services sector and the presence of credit market constraints continue to hamper growth of agricultural output in Tunisia. Originality/value Although high importance is placed on the agricultural sector, in the context of the Tunisian economy, the issue of agricultural contribution to the economic growth has often been raised by policymakers but rarely examined empirically.