نشریه مطالعات کارآفرینی و توسعه پایدار کشاورزی
سال دوم شماره 3 (پیاپی 7، پاییز 1394)

Although agriculture is the main driving force in rural economy, industry has superseded in the third world countries. However, unemployment rate in agriculture in one hand and the role of entrepreneurship in economic development in other hand has highlighted the importance of agricultural entrepreneurship. In particular, opportunity recognition has been the focus of entrepreneurship research but little attention has been paid to the "why" and "how" of entrepreneurship recognition in the context of agriculture. A review of research in entrepreneurship opportunity indicates that there are conflicting and yet contradictory perspectives in both the theory and definitions. Therefore, the purpose of this critical review is to shed light on opportunity recognition models and perspectives. This critical review would help to present opportunity recognition in agricultural context. The result of this study has implications for entrepreneurial opportunity recognition in agriculture.

By a massive growth in the information and communication technologies particularly in the current knowledge based society at the world, the trend of adoption these technologies has faced a growing increase at different areas such as production, services, and various businesses. The agricultural businesses may improve better services to consumers and supply qualified and high diversified food if they use ICTs through setting up e-businesses. Generally, an agricultural ebusiness by using ICTs can contribute to better gather, analyze, and transfer the information between sellers and buyers of the agricultural products, better manage the product's supply, and better trade management. Therefore, this paper with a use of both library research and translate technical texts has an aim at reviewing different aspects of e-businesses in agriculture, its applications and advantages as well as focusing on how does a new e-business in agriculture start up?

Business simulation games constitute a relevant learning method in business and entrepreneurship education. In recent years, the use of simulations has grown progressively, especially in business and management schools, universities and professional associations all over the world. The main reason for their popularity is that business simulation games are considered as effective tools for facilitating experiential learning, allowing students to experience the excitement, challenge and operational reality of starting up and running a virtual company but in a safe, relatively risk-free environment. Accordingly, the use of these business games in agricultural entrepreneurship can contribute to experiential learning through a simulation of real-life situations and agri-business environments and thereby allow learners to acquire certain skills and competences above and beyond the skills fostered by traditional learning methods and thereby fostering agricultural entrepreneurship and employment of agricultural graduates. In the present paper, the author argues that business simulation games can be used to foster students’ entrepreneurial mindset and competences in different academic majors including agricultural sciences. In this paper, some examples of entrepreneurship games are presented which can be used in agricultural entrepreneurship education. At the end, it is recommended that agricultural universities and schools need to incorporate business simulation games into their entrepreneurship and business curricula and benefit from the usage of these games.

Because of rapid increasing of population and the necessity of employment creation, it is necessary to be presented alternatives for employment and the economic dynamic of households. Home-based business is an important approach to achieve this goal. Home-based business has many advantages, which it can establish balance between family responsibilities and employment of family members, and create family employment context and the possibility of exchanging experiences through non-formal education methods mentioned master-pupil between family members. Law for supporting and organizing home-based businesses, was approved in 2010, provides the background to facilitate entrepreneurship in various sectors of the economy including agriculture sector. Identifying and developing the potential of home-based business opportunities for development of job skills, reduce production costs, increase capital productivity and increase household income, promoting home-based business management through linkage with upstream firms and cluster organizations, trade unions, cooperatives and guilds and finally facilitate the provision of home-based businesses, are goals of organizing and supporting law of home businesses. In this article we review the benefits of home businesses, within the framework mentioned to reach the entrepreneurship in agricultural sector.

Many issues of rural communities have social nature and therefore their solution requires innovative social solutions. From this perspective, social entrepreneurship can help to solve problems in rural communities, especially help to reduce poverty and inequality in these communities. Social entrepreneurship in rural areas is a means to alleviate social problems by creating innovative solutions and mobilizing the ideas, capacities, resources, and social institutions required for balance social transformation of rural communities. Social entrepreneurs can aid in developing an entrepreneurship ecosystem and sustainable business development model in rural areas while finding the right opportunities unique to the real needs of rural communities. The world has witnessed many successful experiences in the field of social entrepreneurship. Many of these social businesses have a significant contribution too empowerment of poor in local communities. Awareness of these experiences can inspire policy makers to formulate pro-poor enabling policies as well as entrepreneurs and investors to set up social enterprises in deprived areas. In this article as result of a case study review, concept of social entrepreneurship and its appropriateness for fostering development of rural communities has been introduced and a brief experience of Grameen Bank as one of the success stories of social entrepreneurship in the world is illustrated.

Today, the material resources available to supply soil organic matter cannot
respond agriculture practices. In Iran, More than 60 percent of the cultivated soil
organic carbon content is less than one percent and in considerable part of the soils
is less than 0.50 percent. While critical point of soil organic carbon for the stability
of soil structure is two percent. Rural waste management and convert them into
vermicompost is affordable way to provide organic material. In this regard, in order
to the supply of organic matter for agricultural soils, vermicompost production in
Fars province is expanding. This study was conducted to investigate the impacts of
vermicompost production from the perspective of women in the Fars province and it was done by qualitative method and conducted in-depth, structured interviews. Results showed that vermicompost production have many positive effects for rural communities including: economic impacts (increase production, reduce costs, and strengthen the non-agricultural economy), environmental impacts (reducing pollution of water, soil and air, reducing the volume of garbage, preserving the beauty of the rural landscape), and health impacts (producing safe products, reduce cancer, reduce the number of insect pathogenic). Rural women said that use of vermicompost in the farming also increases soil productivity. The findings showed that the most important health impacts of vermicompost production are organic production and reduce diseases, especially cancers. Rural women believed that produce vermicompost from organic waste is one of the important ways to reduce environmental pollution. The practical suggestions are provided for improving the production of vermicompost.

It is becoming clear that entrepreneurship, or certain facets of it, can be taught. Currently, there has been a proliferation of training courses dedicated to entrepreneurship, so it is need to formulate consensus on syllabuses and content from the viewpoint of the candidate-entrepreneurs to respond to the learning needs of the Nominees. The aim of current research is to identify and assess syllabuses and contents of entrepreneurship training program based on entrepreneurship and business behavior and process. The current applied research carried out according survey method and cross sectional method, and utilized questionnaire tools in order to data gathering. Statistical population contains all candidates who participate in business and entrepreneurship skills training program that hold by Ministry of Labor and Social Affair in Kermanshah province. By using Krejcie and Morgan table, 174 sample selected and simple random sampling exploited to select respondent nominees. Needed skills are assessed in term of 8 dimensions, 31 components and 176 items, results showed that dimensions include; professional development, communications and interpersonal skills, digital skills, economics, entrepreneurship behavior/traits, financial knowledge, entrepreneurial traits/behaviors, business foundations, are prioritized. Also most components include considering ethics in communication, staff communication in term of "communications and interpersonal skills dimension and components of career planning and job-seeking skills in term of professional development dimension. Despite of this, various items contained the each of component and dimensions are ranked. These elements could consider as content standards entrepreneurship courses. Finally, some recommendations are provided to improve cycle of entrepreneurship curriculum development.