Sustainable agricultural entrepreneurship in Burundi: drivers and outcomes

Abstract

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to contribute to the emerging literature on sustainable entrepreneurship by studying knowledge, motivation and early stage outcomes of sustainable agricultural entrepreneurship in the context of farmer groups in Burundi. Design/methodology/approach Quantitative and qualitative data were combined in a multiple-source case study. Data were analyzed using content analysis and basic statistics. Findings Results revealed that farmer groups’ prior knowledge (PK) on environmental sustainability is better developed than their social and economic sustainability. This is reflected in the environmental sustainability part of the business plans (BPs), which is generally better than the economic and social sustainability parts. Moreover, the top groups on PK identified opportunities directly related to their PK. Pro-activeness of the group was a more determining factor than risk taking and innovativeness. Furthermore, there seemed to be a positive interplay between the groups’ PK, entrepreneurial orientation and knowledge motivation (KM) and the quality of the sustainable BP. In particular, KM seemed to be important, but other variables also explained the quality of the BP, such as level of education. Originality/value This research fills a gap in literature because there are few empirical studies on agricultural entrepreneurship that focus on the earliest phase of opportunity recognition, let alone studies that focus on sustainable opportunity recognition in the context of emerging economies such as Burundi. Furthermore, in this research, the authors studied well-known knowledge, motivations and outcomes of sustainable entrepreneurship.

Small agricultural businesses' performance—What is the role of dynamic capabilities, entrepreneurial orientation, and environmental sustainability commitment?

“…Based on a sample of 160 small fresh fruit farms located in inland Portugal, we deployed a partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) to analyze how dynamic capabilities (DCs), EO, and environmental sustainability commitment (ESC) are associated with improving the performance of farm businesses. Despite many entrepreneurs do not realize of their impacts on the environment and have few resources to respond to environmental challenges (Mupfasoni et al, 2018), our study found that EO and ESC have positive effects on EP and FP. Hence, small farms can establish competitive advantages through the improvement of environmental sustainability as proposed by the natural resource-based view (NRBV) (Hart & Dowell, 2011).…”

Sustainable Entrepreneurship in the Agriculture Sector: The Nexus of the Triple Bottom Line Measurement Approach

“…Consequently, the incorporation of technical learning areas creates sustainability value for entrepreneurs [40]. In that spirit, sustainable entrepreneurs serve as economic agents to initiate, adapt, and integrate those processes and activities which lead to the development of sustainability-driven and profitable economic opportunities [1].…”

“…An agriculture perspective of the planet emphasizes how management measures and environmental conditions affect yields and how these conditions can be improved based on the effects of plant growth and different conditions such as soil fertility, pests, and climate. It then focuses on maintaining or increasing current levels of biophysical productivity that can be achieved from agriculture sustainability [1,60]. The agriculture perspective of profit focuses on mass production as the main driving force behind the so-called green revolution, also known as industrialization or traditional agricultural model of a farm-level enterprise and an essential economic sector at the local, regional, national, and international levels.…”

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Development of the Sustainable Entrepreneurship Model

“…One of the most potent tools for achieving this end is sustainable entrepreneurship (Fischer, Mauer, & Brettel, 2018). Sustainable entrepreneurship has been defined as the act of recognition, development and exploitation of opportunities to create goods and services with economic, social and environmental benefits (Mupfasoni, Kessler, & Lans, 2018). Sustainable entrepreneurs are entrepreneurs who take into account different aspects of social, economic and environmental sustainability in their entrepreneurial endeavors (Tilley & Parrish, 2006).…”