Browsing by Author "Belay Teka"

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    The Role of Entrepreneurial Orientation in Driving Environmental, Economic, and Social Sustainability: The case of Sebeta and surroundings smallholder farmers
    (A.A.U, 2026-02-03) Belay Teka; Ethiopia Legesse
    The purpose of this study was to examine the role of entrepreneurial orientation in ensuring the three sustainability dimensions namely, economic, environmental, and social. Moreover, the study is made among smallholder farmers in Sebeta region and its surroundings. Specifically, the research investigated the mediating effects of strategic innovation and stakeholder integration, as well as the moderating roles of market uncertainty and strategic innovation– stakeholder integration interactions. A structured questionnaire was administered to 384 smallholder farmers, yielding a 72.4% response rate. Data were analyzed using SPSS version 25 and Hayes’ PROCESS macro (Models 1 and 4) to test moderation and mediation effects respectively. The findings revealed that entrepreneurial orientation significantly improves economic sustainability, partially mediated by strategic innovation, indicating that innovation serves as a key mechanism for enhancing economic performance. Market uncertainty was found to positively moderate the relationship between EO and environmental sustainability, suggesting that EO becomes more effective in promoting environmentally sustainable practices under uncertain market conditions. Furthermore, stakeholder integration partially mediated the relationship between EO and social sustainability, demonstrating that active stakeholder engagement enhances social outcomes. Based on these findings, the study concludes that strengthening entrepreneurial capabilities, innovation adoption, stakeholder collaboration, and farmers’ capacity to navigate market uncertainty can significantly improve the long-term sustainability of smallholder farming systems. The study contributes to the literature by providing empirical evidence on the mechanisms through which entrepreneurial orientation drives multidimensional sustainability in agriculture, while recommending that future research incorporate additional mediating and moderating variables to further enrich understanding. Keywords: Entrepreneurial Orientation, Strategic innovation, Stakeholder integration, Market uncertainty, sustainability, Smallholder farmers.