FIELD-LEVEL OBSTRUCTIONS IN AGRICULTURAL ENTREPRENEURSHIP DEVELOPMENT AT SOUTHWEST BANGLADESH
Author:
Aninda Arnab Pandit, Afrin Sultana, Md. Matiul Islam, Mohammad Bashir Ahmed
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License CC BY 4.0, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited
Agricultural entrepreneurship is one of the prime emerging movers of socio-economic development in Bangladesh. The study aims to investigate the problems faced by agricultural entrepreneurs in southwest Bangladesh, focusing on Khulna District. For this purpose, 57 entrepreneurs were surveyed by snowball sampling method through a descriptive and diagnostic research design to identify important barriers and analyze the influence of these challenges. The findings indicate that financial constraint is the most critical challenge- securing funding was ranked the top obstacle with an index of 88.77%. Political instability and competitive pressures, like keeping pace with competitors’ innovations and marketing, are also key challenges. Marketing challenges, especially identifying the target market and budgeting, further heighten the problems faced by entrepreneurs. The study also points out the correlation between entrepreneurs’ characteristics and their faced challenges. Family type and cosmopolitanism strongly influence the level of challenges, especially in non-business-related areas. On the other hand, factors such as age, education, and family size had a minimal impact. This research brings to light the urgent intervention needed on these barriers. Policy improvements, accessible financial support, and political stability are recommended to be encouraged. Increase access to markets, provide scope for innovation, and facilitate networks to support entrepreneurs in solving constraints to achieve sustainable growth. From the findings of this present research study, some useful knowledge may be developed to advance pragmatic strategies that will move Bangladeshi agricultural entrepreneurship forward to bring about economic growth at the regional and national levels.
Pages | 01-09 |
Year | 2025 |
Issue | 1 |
Volume | 6 |