Constrained Agricultural Entrepreneurship: Evidence from the Highland Himalayan Context

This study explores the multifaceted constraints that hinder smallholder farmers from engaging in agricultural entrepreneurship in the highland Himalayan region of Pakistan. Using a qualitative methodology based on 30 semi-structured key informant interviews with farmers’ representatives to agricultural and development experts, the study applies thematic analysis facilitated by the Atlas.ti software and guided by the Gioia approach. The findings reveal eight distinct categories of constraints: sociocultural norms, human capital limitations, financial exclusion, geographic and infrastructural barriers, environmental risks, institutional gaps, political marginalization & conflict exposure, and market & value chain exclusion. These categories are analytically synthesized into three aggregate theoretical dimensions: socio-cultural-economic constraints, spatial-ecological constraints, and macro-structural constraints. This study contributes to the emerging literature on constrained agricultural and rural entrepreneurship, particularly concerning marginalized rural communities. Moreover, it provides context-specific empirical evidence, especially focusing on the scarcely explored remote Himalayan region. The study offers theoretical and practical implications for various stakeholders in fostering agricultural entrepreneurship, thus improving the livelihoods of marginalized Himalayan rural communities.