An Evaluation of the ecosystem of agricultural entrepreneurship in Ilam province

Subject Areas : Agricultural Extension and Education Research

Yalda Heidarzadi ¹ (PhD Student in Agricultural Extension and Education, Faculty of Agriculture, Azad University, Ilam, Iran.)
hamed chaharsoughi amin ² ((Assistant Professor, Department of Agricultural Extension and Education), Ilam branch, Islamic Azad University, Ilam, Iran)
marjan vahedi ³ ((Assistant Professor, Department of Agricultural Extension and Education), Ilam branch, Islamic Azad University, Ilam, Iran)
Roya Eshraghi Samani ⁴ (Assistant Professor of Agricultural Extension and Education, Ilam Branch, Islamic Azad University Ilam, Iran)

Received: 2022-07-26 Accepted : 2024-03-04 Published : 2024-05-28

Keywords: entrepreneurial ecosystem, agricultural entrepreneurship, Ilam province, mixed research method.,

Abstract :

The present research aims to evaluate the ecosystem of agricultural entrepreneurship in Ilam province. This research has used mixed methods approaches with a sequential exploratory design. In the qualitative part, the statistical population of this research included agricultural entrepreneurs of Ilam province. After conducting in-depth interviews with 30 entrepreneurs and using content analysis, information about the subject under investigation was obtained. In the qualitative part, the statistical population included the agricultural entrepreneurs of Ilam province, 183 of whom were participated through census. The data collection tool (in the quantitative part) was a questionnaire, the face and content validity of which was confirmed by the relevant professors and experts, and its reliability was verified using Cronbach's alpha coefficient (0.83). Based on the results of the qualitative part, 7 main subsystems (political, financial, social, human, cultural, support and market) of the entrepreneurial ecosystem were extracted. The results of the quantitative part show that the overall structure of the research model has been approved based on the fit indices. The results also indicate that 64% of the variance of agricultural entrepreneurship is accounted for by certain variables (political factors, financial capital, social capital, human capital, cultural factors, support factors, market, entrepreneurial attitude), and among these, the variables of financial capital and political factors contributed the most in explaining the variance of the research dependent variable (agricultural entrepreneurship).