This study examines the factors influencing rural household engagement in agricultural entrepreneurship in Kasai Oriental. Despite the coexistence of farming activities with a thriving artisanal diamond mining sector, the region continues to experience persistently high unemployment, poverty, and food insecurity. In front of such challenges, agricultural entrepreneurship may hold the alleviating keystone. To investigate determinants of agricultural entrepreneurship engagement, the study lies on fixed-effects logit model to control unobserved heterogeneity at the village level. Key findings indicate that self-efficacy significantly increase the likelihood to engage in agricultural entrepreneurship, while fear of failure substantially reduces it. Access to land and participation in informal credit groups also exert positive influences on decision to engage in entrepreneurial activity. Conversely, demographic factors reveal lower engagement among younger, more educated individuals, and big households, likely due to attraction of get-quick-rich artisanal mining perceived as offering high income. Additionally, land conflicts and proximity to mining sites further diminish the probability of engaging in agricultural ventures. Based on these results, policy interventions must focus on vocational training, psychological support, improved access to credit and land. Such efforts should specifically target youth and educated rural residents to enhance the attractiveness and sustainability of the agricultural sector. Thus, this study contributes to a nuanced understanding of the multifaceted drivers of rural agricultural entrepreneurship in the context of mining region and provides actionable insights for targeted strategies to foster sustainable rural economic development.

 

cognitive factors; entrepreneurial; fixed-effects logit; Kasai Oriental; mining areas

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