Modeling MODELING ENTREPRENEURIAL COMPETENCE AREAS AS PREDICTORS OF AGRICULTURAL PERFORMANCE
Keywords:
entrepreneurial competences, agricultural performance, agricultural training, agro-entrepreneurial frameworkAbstract
This paper explores the effect of entrepreneurial competences on Agricultural Performance and provides a model to plug knowledge gaps in view of a continued decrease in the agro-sectorial contribution to the gross domestic product (GDP) in Zimbabwe. We sampled 384 farmers as the respondents. We analysed the data using the Spearman’s rank-order correlation to determine the relationship between the variables. The Spearman’s rank-order correlation showed that there was a strong, positive correlation (rs = 0.946, p <0.05). On the ANOVA (Analysis of Variance) the polynomial model of action significantly predicted agricultural performance, F (2, 381) = 1542.612, p <0.05. The positive beta weights showed that an increase in entrepreneurial competence also increased farmers’ agricultural performance. The study recommends that the Governments can implement an ‘agro-entrepreneurial framework’ which entails the training of farmers in entrepreneurial competences. This paper fills a knowledge gap due to limited research in entrepreneurial competences and agriculture. This then gives significance to theories and frameworks that underpin this study in asserting that entrepreneurial competences can work in synergy to induce better agricultural performance. The theoretical framework derived from this study is of interest to policy makers to help design an effective entrepreneurial farmer training strategy.
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