Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Agricultural Entrepreneurship

  • Living reference work entry
  • First Online:
Encyclopedia of Creativity, Invention, Innovation and Entrepreneurship

Synonyms

Agricultural innovation; Entrepreneurship in agriculture

Why Agricultural Entrepreneurship?

Traditionally, agriculture is seen as a low-tech industry with limited dynamics dominated by numerous small family firms which are mostly focused on doing things better rather than doing new things. Over the last decade, this situation has changed dramatically due to economic liberalization, a reduced protection of agricultural markets, and a fast changing, more critical, society. Agricultural companies increasingly have to adapt to market changes (e.g., boycotts), changing consumer habits (e.g., organic/local food), more strict environmental regulations, food safety and product quality, biotechnology, big-data, value chain integration, sustainability, and so on. These changes have spurred new entrants, innovation, and new cycles of entrepreneurship within existing firms. It is recognized by politicians, practitioners, as well as scientists that farmers and growers increasingly require...

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • Alsos GA, Carter S, Ljunggren E, Welter F, editors. The handbook of research on entrepreneurship in agriculture and rural development. Cheltenham/Northampton: Edward Elgar; 2011.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bock BB. Fitting in and multi-tasking: Dutch farm women’s strategies in rural entrepreneurship. Sociol Rural. 2004;44(3):245–60.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Carter S. Multiple business ownership in the farm sector: assessing the enterprise and employment contributions of farmers in Cambridgeshire. J Rural Stud. 1999;15(4):417–29.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • DeTienne DR, Chandler GN. Opportunity identification and its role in the entrepreneurial classroom: a pedagogical approach and empirical test. Acad Manag Learn Educ. 2004;3(3):242–57.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dieleman H. Urban agriculture in Mexico City: balancing between ecological, economic, social and symbolic value. J Clean Prod. 2016.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gartner WB. ‘Who is an entrepreneur?’ Is the wrong question. Entrep Theory Pract. 1989;13:47–68.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gasson R, Crow G, Errington A, Hutson J, Marsden T, Winter M. The farm as a family business: a review. J Agr Econ. 1988;39:1–41.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hassink J, Hulsink W, Grin J. Entrepreneurship in agriculture and healthcare: different entry strategies of care farmers. J Rural Stud. 2016;43:27–39.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hulsink W, Dons H, Lans T, Blok V. Boosting entrepreneurship education within the knowledge network of the Dutch agri-food sciences: the new ‘Wageningen’approach. In: Handbook on the Entrepreneurial University. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar Publishing; 2014. p. 248–278.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jaskiewicz P, Combs JG, Rau SB. Entrepreneurial legacy: toward a theory of how some family firms nurture transgenerational entrepreneurship. J Bus Ventur. 2015;30(1):29–49.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jervell AM. The family farm as a premise for entrepreneurship. In: Alsos GA, Carter S, Ljunggren AE, Welter F, editors. The handbook of research on entrepreneurship in agriculture and rural development. Cheltenham/Northhampton: Edward Elgar; 2011.

    Google Scholar 

  • Katz JA. Education and training in entrepreneurship. In: The psychology of entrepreneurship. Mahwah: Erlbaum; 2007. p. 209–35.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kilelu CW, Klerkx L, Leeuwis C. Supporting smallholder commercialisation by enhancing integrated coordination in agrifood value chains: experiences with dairy hubs in Kenya. Exp Agric. 2017;53(2):269–287.

    Google Scholar 

  • Klerkx L, Jansen J. Building knowledge systems for sustainable agriculture: supporting private advisors to adequately address sustainable farm management in regular service contacts. Int J Agric Sustain. 2010;8(3):148–63.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Klerkx L, Leeuwis C. The emergence and embedding of innovation brokers at different innovation system levels: insights from the Dutch agricultural sector. Technol Forecast Soc Chang. 2009a;76(6):849–60.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Klerkx L, Leeuwis C. Shaping collective functions in privatized agricultural knowledge and information systems: the positioning and embedding of a network broker in the Dutch dairy sector. J Agric Educ Ext. 2009b;15(1):81–105.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Klerkx L, Proctor A. Beyond fragmentation and disconnect: networks for knowledge exchange in the English land management advisory system. Land Use Policy. 2013;30(1):13–24.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lans T, Biemans H, Verstegen J, Mulder M. The influence of the work environment on entrepreneurial learning of small-business owners. Manag Learn. 2008;39(5):597–613.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lans T, Verhees F, Verstegen J. Social competence in small firms—fostering workplace learning and performance. Hum Resour Dev Q. 2016;27(3):321–48.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lumpkin GT, Dess GG. Linking two dimensions of entrepreneurial orientation to firm performance: the moderating role of environment and industry life cycle. J Bus Venturing. 2001;16(5):429–51.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McClelland DC. The achieving society. New York: First Free Press; 1967.

    Google Scholar 

  • McElwee G. A taxonomy of entrepreneurial farmers. Int J Entrep Small Bus. 2008;6:465–78.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Miller D. The correlates of entrepreneurship in three types of firms. Manag Sci. 1983;29(7):770–91.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mitchell RK, Lowell-Busenitz TL, McDougall PP, Morse EA, Brock Smith J. Toward a theory of entrepreneurial cognition: rethinking the people side of entrepreneurship research. Entrep Theory Pract. 2002;27:93–104.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Phillipson J, Gorton M, Raley M, Moxey A. Treating farms as firms? The evolution of farm business support from productionist to entrepreneurial models. Environ Plan C Govern Policy. 2004;22(1):31–54.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pindado E, SÃnchez M. Researching the entrepreneurial behaviour of new and existing ventures in European agriculture. Small Business Economics; 2017. p. 1–24.

    Google Scholar 

  • Poulton C, Dorward A, Kydd J. The future of small farms: new directions for services, institutions, and intermediation. World Dev. 2010;38:1413–28.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pyysiäinen J, Anderson A, McElwee G, Vesala K. Developing the entrepreneurial skills of farmers: some myths explored. Int J Entrep Behav Res. 2006;12:21–39.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rauch A, Wiklund J, Lumpkin GT, Frese M. Entrepreneurial orientation and business performance: an assessment of past research and suggestions for the future. Entrep Theory Pract. 2009;33(3):761–87.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schumpeter JA. The theory of economic development. Cambridge, MA: Harvard; 1934.

    Google Scholar 

  • Seuneke P, Bock BB. Exploring the roles of women in the development of multifunctional entrepreneurship on family farms: an entrepreneurial learning approach. NJAS. 2015;74–75:41–50.

    Google Scholar 

  • Seuneke P, Lans T, Wiskerke JSC. Moving beyond entrepreneurial skills: key factors driving entrepreneurial learning in multifunctional agriculture. J Rural Stud. 2013;32:208–19.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shane S, Venkataraman S. The promise of enterpreneurship as a field of research. Acad Manag Rev. 2000;25(1):217–26.

    Google Scholar 

  • Suess-Reyes J, Fuetsch E. The future of family farming: a literature review on innovative, sustainable and succession-oriented strategies. J Rural Stud. 2016;47:117–40.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • van der Ploeg JD. Styles of farming: an introductory note on concepts and methodology. In: van der Ploeg JD, Long A, editors. Born from within: practice and perspectives of endogeneous rural development. Assen: Royal van Gorcum; 1994.

    Google Scholar 

  • van der Ploeg JD, Long A, Banks J, editors. Living countrysides, rural development processes in Europe: the state of the art. Doetinchem: Elsevier; 2002.

    Google Scholar 

  • Verhees F, Lans T, Verstegen J. The influence of market- and entrepreneurial orientation on strategic marketing choices: the cases of Dutch farmers and horticultural growers. J Chain Network Sci. 2012;2:167–79.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vesala KM, Peura J, McElwee G. The split entrepreneurial identity of the farmer. J Small Bus Enterp Dev. 2007;14(1):48–63.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Westhead P, Ucbasaran D, Wright M, Binks M. Novice, serial and portfolio entrepreneur behaviour and contributions. Small Bus Econ. 2005;25:109–32.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wiklund J, Shepherd D. Entrepreneurial orientation and small business performance: a configurational approach. J Bus Venturing. 2005;20(1):71–91.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wilson GA. From ‘weak’ to ‘strong’ multifunctionality: conceptualising farm-level multifunctional transitional pathways. J Rural Stud. 2008;24(3):367–83.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Woo CY, Cooper AC, Dunkelberg WC. The development and interpretation of entrepreneurial typologies. J Bus Venturing. 1991;6(2):93–114.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Education and Competence Studies Group, Wageningen University, Hollandseweg 1, Wageningen, 6706 KN, The Netherlands

    Thomas Lans

  2. Aeres University of Applied Sciences Wageningen, Hollandseweg 1, Wageningen, 6706 KN, The Netherlands

    Pieter Seuneke

  3. Knowledge, Technology and Innovation Group, Wageningen University, Hollandseweg 1, Wageningen, 6706 KN, The Netherlands

    Laurens Klerkx

Authors
  1. Thomas Lans
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Pieter Seuneke
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Laurens Klerkx
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Thomas Lans .

Section Editor information

  1. Decision Support Systems Laboratory, School of Production Engineering and Management, Technical University of Crete, University Campus, Kounoupidiana, 73100, Chania, Greece

    Evangelos (Vangelis) Grigoroudis

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2017 Springer Science+Business Media LLC

About this entry

Cite this entry

Lans, T., Seuneke, P., Klerkx, L. (2017). Agricultural Entrepreneurship. In: Encyclopedia of Creativity, Invention, Innovation and Entrepreneurship. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-6616-1_496-2

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-6616-1_496-2

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4614-6616-1

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4614-6616-1

  • eBook Packages: Springer Reference Business and ManagementReference Module Humanities and Social SciencesReference Module Business, Economics and Social Sciences

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation