Parikalpana KIIT Journal of Management

Agriculture is deeply rooted in family and community structures, geographic endowments, cultural traditions, regional development, and technology. Cultural stickiness of practices and reducing real prices of agricultural produce are known challenges. Entrepreneurship research focuses on individuals, innovation, opportunity identification, employment, and regional development. Thus, entrepreneurship in agriculture is not a natural fit. The urgency to increase agricultural entrepreneurs is demonstrated by multiple policies promoted by governments.

The complex interaction between agriculture sector and entrepreneurship necessitated a review of theories applied in research. A systematic literature review of articles in the SCOPUS database was undertaken to understand how specificities of agriculture influence different stages of entrepreneurship.

The theories identified in this research fall into several broad categories: entrepreneurial career choice, feminism, values, social capital and resources, market-based theories, firm growth, decision-making, institutional and governance theories, innovation, learning, and societal perspectives. The non-profit and social motives, increasing role of women, and re-peasantization as a social preference further adds to the complexity of entrepreneurial processes. The multi-dimensional and interdisciplinary nature of agricultural entrepreneurship poses challenges to achieving theoretical convergence. Thus, agri-entrepreneurship has to be viewed from a distinct perspective.

This review contributes to the entrepreneurship and agriculture literature by synthesizing various theoretical approaches, guiding in the selection of appropriate methodologies and situating agri-entreprneurship research focus within the discipline.