ملخص المقالة :
The study assessed the entrepreneurial behaviour of smallholder cassava farmers in Ebonyi State, Nigeria. Multistage sampling technique was employed in the selection of 108 cassava farmers across the agricultural zones in Ebonyi state using pretested and structured questionnaire from which data and information were elicited. Analytically, the study employed entrepreneurial behavioural index (EBI) in the assessment of entrepreneurial behaviour of the cassava farmers. The result showed that the overall entrepreneurial behaviour of the cassava farmers posted a mean value of 0.4529 on a range of 0.17 – 0.70. This implies that their minimum entrepreneurial behaviour indicates gross underutilization of entrepreneurial attributes by the farmers while the maximum shows reasonable utilization of entrepreneurial capacity. The study concluded that aggressive agricultural transformation to enhance food security in Nigeria is feasible with effective management of human as well as material resources by promoting entrepreneurial behaviour of farmers. The study therefore recommends amongst others that government at all levels needs to deepen its educational and policy support to farmers through total overhauling of activities/programmes to activate their creativity.
المصادر:
1) Chandra, M. P. (2005). A study on entrepreneurial behavior of farmers in Raichur District of Karnataka. M.Sc. Thesis University of Agricultural sciences, Dharwad, India.
2) Ezeibe, A. B. C., Diogu, G. O., Eze, J. U. Chiaha, G. U. and Nwokenna, E. N. (2013), Women Entrepreneurship as a Cutting Edge for Rural Development in Nigeria, International Institute for Science, Technology and Education, 3(5): 156-162.
3) FAO (Food and Agricultural Organisation). (2011). A Cassava Industrial Revolution in Nigeria.www.fao.org/doerep/007/y5548e/y5548e0b.htm (Accessed on January 8, 2014).
4) Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (FMARD). (2006). National Programme for Food Security, Expansion Phase Project 2006 (2010) (Main Report).
5) Guilford, J. P. (1954). Psychometric Methods. Tata Mcgraw Hill Pub. Co., Bombay, India.
6) Hellriegel, D. and Slocum J. W. (1996). Management. 7th Edition. Cincinnati: South Western College Publishing.
7) Hisrich, R. D. (2005), Entrepreneurship: New Venture Creation. 5th Edition. Tata McGraw Hill, New Delhi.
8) Kalaskar, A. P., Shinde, P. S., Bhople, R. S. and Geeta, M. H. (2001). Factors influencing knowledge of cotton growers about integrated pest management practices in cotton. Maharashtra Journal of Extension Education, 16: 386-399.
9) Nagesha, P. N. (2005) study on entrepreneurial behavior of vegetable seed producing farmers of Haven District. M.Sc. thesis University of Agricultural Sciences, Dharwad, India.
10)Narayana Swamy, B. K. (1996). Small Farmers Development: Co-operative as a Desirable Model. Paper presented in the seminar on re-discovering co-operation held during November, 19-21, 1996, At IRMA, Anand.
11)Nicholas, D. C., Mulangu, F and Porto, G. (2012). Food Production and Consumption Trends in Sub-Saharan Africa: Prospects for the Transformation of the Agricultural Sector. United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Working Paper 2012-011, Regional Bureau for Africa.
12)Nomesh Kumar, N. and Narayanaswamy, B. K. (2000). Entrepreneurial behaviour and socio-economic characteristics of farmers who adopted sustainable agriculture in India. Karnataka Journal of Agricultural Sciences, 13(1) : pp. 83-90.
13)Palmurugan M, Jhamtani A and Padaria R N. (2008). Entrepreneurial behaviour of vanilla growers of Tamil Nadu and Kerala, Indian Journal of Extension Education, 44: pp. 58-65.
14)Patil, V. G., Mahadik, R. P. and Patil, A. S. (1999). Entrepreneurial behaviour of littlegourd growers. Maharashtra Journal of Extension Education, 18 : 240- 243.
15)Petrin, T. (1994). Entrepreneurship as an economic force in rural development, Keynote Paper presented at the Seventh FAO/REU International Rural Development Summer School, Herrsching, Germany, 8-14 September, 1994.
16)Rao, M. S. and Dipak, D. (2003). Entrepreneurial behaviour of vegetable growers. Journal of Research. ANGRAU, 31(1): 101-104.
17)Rao M. S. and De, D.(2009). Dimensions of Entrepreneurial behaviour, Indian Journal of Extension Education, 45(1 and 2): pp.16-20.
18)Shoji, L. B., Kerobim, L., Kushwaha, S., Meena, L. K. and Kumar, P. (2014). Agripreneurship Development as a Tool to Upliftment of Agriculture, International Journal of Scientific and Research Publications, 4(3): 1-4.
19)Subrahmanyeswari, B. and Veeraraghava Reddy K. (2003), Entrepreneurial Behavioral of Rural Dairy Women, Madras Agricultural Journal, 30(1-3): 173-175
20)Subrahmanyeswari, B., Veeraraghava Reddy, K and Sudhakar Rao, B. (2007). Entrepreneurial behavior of rural women farmers in dairying: a multidimensional analysis. Livestock Research for Rural Development. Available: website://lrrd.org/lrrd19/1/subr19015htm [April,14, 2012].
21)Ukpata, S. I. and Onyeukwu, P. E. (2014). Empowering Women in Agri-business and Agri- preneurship: The Dialectics of Socio-cultural Impediments on Economic Development in Nigeria, European Journal of Business and Management, 6(6): 68-77.
22)Usman, B. U., Ibrahim, A. M., Salihu, S. (2013). Achieving National Transformation Agenda in Nigeria through Entrepreneurship (A Review), Journal of Management and Corporate Governance, 5(2): 1-11.
23)Vijay Kumar, K. (2001). Entrepreneurship behaviour of floriculture farmers in Ranga Reddy district of Andhra Pradesh. M. Sc. (Agri.) Thesis, Acharya N. G. Ranga Agricultural University, Hyderabad.