ASSESSING THE IMPACT OF STRATEGIC ENTREPRENEURSHIP SKILLS TRAINING WORKSHOPS ON SMALL-HOLDER FARMERS’ ENTREPRENEURIAL COMPETENCE AND CAPABILITIES: CASE STUDIES OF DOTITO IRRIGATION SCHEME IN MASHONALAND CENTRAL PROVINCE AND MITCHELL AND MITCHELL IN MASHONALAND EAST PROVINCE, ZIMBABWE (Published)
The study was aimed at assessing the entrepreneurial competence and capabilities of the local farmers after the government had introduced strategic entrepreneurship workshops to some parts of the rural areas such as Dotito Irrigation Scheme and Mitchell and Mitchell. Strategic entrepreneurship workshops were aimed at equipping farmers with skills that promote the sustenance of their agricultural businesses as well as increasing productivity. The study employed the mixed methodology to increase validity and credibility of the findings. The hypothesis of the study was that strategic entrepreneurship workshops would improve the entrepreneurial capability and competence of the rural farmers. The study found that strategic entrepreneurship workshops enabled the majority of the rural farmers to satisfy their customers, train their children in the farming business adapt to the environmental changes and to be able to successfully market their produce. Farmers in these areas had poor marketing and strategic skills which could enable them to increase productivity and earn more profits. This was because they did not have the basic strategic skills, since most of them were not highly educated. The research recommended that the Government of Zimbabwe should introduce strategic entrepreneurship training workshops as a policy to all farmers in the country.
Keywords: Agricultural Business, Entrepreneurial Capability, Entrepreneurial Competence, Productivity, Strategic Entrepreneurship