Understanding Structural Constraints To Agripreneurship Adoption Among Smallholder Maize Farmers: Evidence From A Qualitative Study In Niger State, Nigeria

Abstract

Agripreneurship is increasingly recognized as a pathway for improving agricultural productivity, commercialization, and rural livelihoods. However, its adoption among smallholder farmers remains constrained by persistent structural barriers, particularly in developing countries. This study explored the structural constraints influencing agripreneurship adoption among smallholder maize farmers in Niger State, Nigeria.

The study employed an interpretivist qualitative approach within a broader sequential explanatory mixed-methods design. Data were collected through Focus Group Discussions and Key Informant Interviews involving 50 purposively selected participants and analyzed using reflexive thematic analysis.

The findings identified seven interconnected constraints influencing agripreneurship adoption: financial exclusion, weak extension and training services, poor market infrastructure and price instability, climate variability, high input costs and scarcity, socio-cultural and institutional barriers, and rural insecurity. These constraints interacted to limit the adoption of improved seed varieties, post-harvest management, market-oriented farming, financial management and record-keeping, and agricultural training and extension services. Guided by the Technology–Organization–Environment (TOE) Framework and Institutional Theory, the findings demonstrate that agripreneurship adoption is shaped primarily by organizational and environmental conditions rather than technological considerations alone.

The study contributes context-specific qualitative evidence by demonstrating that agripreneurship adoption is influenced by interconnected structural conditions rather than isolated barriers. The findings highlight the need for integrated policies that strengthen rural finance, extension services, market infrastructure, institutional support, climate resilience, and rural security to promote sustainable agripreneurship among smallholder maize farmers.