Entrepreneurial competency in agriculture: is it a panacea for the problem of farmers' welfare?

Abstract

PurposeAlthough the majority of Ethiopians continue the on-farm and off-farm work, the country still struggles to secure food for its citizens and farmer welfare is very low. To increase farmers' welfare, improving farmers' entrepreneurial competency is believed to be the solution. However, entrepreneurial competencies are diversified, and investigating the most important dimensions specific to the agricultural sector is important. As a result, the objective of this research is to look into important entrepreneurial competencies that could help farmers.Design/methodology/approachTo achieve the objective, survey data, collected from 178 households in North Shoa, Amhara National Regional State, Ethiopia is analyzed through structural equation modeling (SEM).FindingsThe study revealed that of the six entrepreneurs' competencies considered, only two of them (Strategic competency and relationship competency) have a significant association with the welfare of farmers. Moreover, the study revealed that the moderating effect of agricultural extension (taking model and non-model farmers as a group) on the relationship between entrepreneurial competency and farmers' welfare is not significant.Research limitations/implicationsThis study focuses only on six entrepreneurial competencies from which two of them are found significant factors in farmers' welfare. Thus, future research could broaden the scope in terms of looking into additional variables.Originality/valueThe study investigated the moderating effect of the farmers' category as a model and non-model on the relationship between entrepreneurial competency and farmers' welfare, which is the first to discuss the moderation effect.