EFFECT OF ENTREPRENEURIAL COMPETENCE ON ECONOMICSUSTAIINABILITY OF SMALL-SCALE FISH FARM BUSINESSES IN MINNA METROPOLIS, NIGER STATE

Abstract

The challenge of sustaining business ventures amidst escalating economic uncertainty remains a primary concern in entrepreneurship, particularly for small-scale enterprises that often face stagnation or decline at the maturity stage. Specific studies on the relationship between entrepreneurial competence and economic sustainability of small businesses are limited in Nigeria and have not been intensively tested in the study’s context and sector and as such this study investigated the effect of entrepreneurial competence on economic sustainability of small-scale fish farm businesses in Minna Metropolis, Niger State. Utilising a cross-sectional survey design, data were collected by issuing a structured questionnaire to 179 fish farmers in Minna Metropolis through a census-based sampling technique after which 165 valid questionnaires were retrieved. Hypotheses were tested using multiple linear regression analysis. The results yielded an R2 of 0.505 indicating that the model possesses a robust fit and explains 50.5% of the variance in economic sustainability. The findings reveal that strategic competence with a coefficient of 0.192 and p-value of 0.020, opportunity competence with a coefficient of 0.238 and p-value of 0.001, and commitment competence with a coefficient of 0.295 and p-value of 0.000 exert positive and significant effects on economic sustainability; however, network competence with a coefficient of 0.008 and pvalue of 0.896 was found to have a positive but statistically insignificant effect on economic sustainability. Consequently, it was recommended that the Niger State ministry of agriculture and rural development in partnership with cooperative associations of the fish farmers and academic institutions should institutionalise and implement continuous structured training and workshops to strengthen the strategic competence of fish farmers in various areas like financial literacy, planning and budgeting.