Necessity entrepreneurship in ruminant Lebanese agriculture: Business model sustainability

Abstract

Necessity entrepreneurship in the small ruminant sector plays a strategic role in the Lebanese agricultural economy despite its small size. The sector is underdeveloped and facing many challenges. This article proposes possible solutions to the challenges facing necessity entrepreneurs in this sector. The findings show that an “agricultural business hub” could consolidate the sector and address many of the challenges on an ongoing basis in order to increase farmer productivity and profitability. Such a Hub could exploit modern technology - in particular, mobile phones, internet and apps - to facilitate communication and dissemination of information to farmers and their markets. Besides reviewing existing literature, this study was conducted using a face-to-face in-depth interview with a field expert.