Small farming businesses play a cardinal role in most countries, contributing to food security, employment creation, and rural development. However, small farming businesses face several challenges that have the potential to hinder their performance. The study aims to identify critical success factors for small farming businesses in Zambia. The study employed an exploratory approach that involved multiple cases of six small farm owners. Four experts from the agriculture industry were also involved in the study. Semi-structured interviews were used to collect data, which was analyzed thematically using Atlas.ti software. Seven common dimensions emerged as critical success factors. These essential success factors include entrepreneurial characteristics, availability of financial resources, farm management practices, technology adoption, knowledge, networking, and government support. The study provides implications that can help develop small farming businesses in Zambia.
Zambia serves as an apt representative in this study because it exemplifies the developing country context, particularly SSA, where the economies are largely agrarian, with a large rural population (Maniriho et al., 2021; Middelburg et al., 2020). Additionally, Zambia’s agricultural landscape encapsulates the broader socioeconomic and environmental characteristics typical of developing countries, particularly in SSA (Ngoma et al., 2021). This makes it a suitable representative for the study’s exploration of CSFs of SFBs. Using the theoretical lenses of the resource-based view (RBV) and resource dependence theory (RDT), this study will endeavor to uncover the CFSs from the perspective of small farm owners and experts from the agricultural sector in Zambia. This study contributes to small business literature in the context of developing countries, particularly SSA. Specifically, we identify CSFs of SFBs and develop a model of their interrelationships. Understanding the CSFs of SFBs offers a blueprint for policymakers, practitioners, and development agencies seeking sustainable solutions for SFBs in similar contexts. By uncovering the CSFs, the study provides valuable insights that can be used by small farm owners and/or managers to make informed decisions and strategies. Small farm owners can direct their efforts on specific interventions that can potentially improve the overall performance of farm enterprises.
Furthermore, findings from this study can help direct policy formulation as well as assist government and other stakeholders to create targeted interventions aimed at supporting the SFBs based on the identified CSFs.Theoretical backgroundThis study adopts RBV and RDT as overarching theoretical frameworks to explore the CSFs for SFBs in the developing context of Zambia.RBVRBV is one of the most influential management and small business research theories. RBV was first introduced by Wernerfelt (1984), and J.B. Barney(1986) expanded it further. The theory contends that an organization’s performance or success depends on internal resources and capabilities (read more here)
Article by: Maureen Lupunga Malesu and Pavel Syrovátka, Department of Business Economics, Faculty of Business and Economics, Mendel University in Brno, Czech Republic
