Economic resilience and sustainable agripreneurship in tobacco value chains: A case of small-scale farmers in Gokwe district, Zimbabwe

Abstract

With increasing economic instability coupled with climate change and the Covid-19 pandemic the subject of economic resilience in agripreneurship value chains in rural farming has gained prominence. Despite the constant engagements on the subject, there still is a missing piece on the determinants of economic resilience and sustainability for agripreneurship in tobacco value chains. The objective of this study was to characterize rural farming typologies which will assist in determining resilience and sustainability for tobacco value chains. The research adopted a pragmatic research approach, where quantitative results were triangulated with qualitative results to test the robustness of the research findings. A total of 250 questionnaires were administered to small scale tobacco farmers in Gokwe and interviews were held with selected 8 Agri-tex-officers. STATA version 12 was used to analyse quantitative data and thematic analysis using vignettes for qualitative data. The research findings showed a significant positive relationship between sustainable agripreneurship and economic resilience in tobacco farming in Gokwe district. The study recommends that the government prioritise the development of sustainable tobacco infrastructure throughout the value chain and training of tobacco farmers on resilient farming methods. This study offers theoretical contributions on how to achieve economic resilience and sustainable agripreneurship in tobacco value chains in Gokwe district.