Agropreneurship intention among Kelantan youth:a TPB approach to key influences

The agricultural sector in Malaysia plays an important role in the country's economy. Although its development has decreased relatively along with the growth of other sectors such as industry and services, agriculture is still the main source of income for some rural communities and provides a basic food supply for the population in Malaysia. Agropreneurship not only serves as an economic driver but also as a tool to achieve positive social change. One of the resolutions that has been reached from the Kelantan State Food Security Town Hall 2023 is to produce more young farmers through the inculcation of interest in the agro field. Despite this significance, youth participation in the agricultural industry remains low and is still dominated by smallholders with an average age of over 55 years. Therefore, this study applies Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB) to examine the factors affecting agropreneurship intention. This study investigates the effect of attitude(A), perceived behavioural control (PBC), subjective norm (SN) towards agropreneurship intention (AI) among384 youth in Kelantan by employing a stratified random sampling methodology. The data weree analysed by using Partial Least Squares-Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM) 4.0. Ultimately, this study could contribute to formulating policies and relevant programs, especially in increasing youth participation in agropreneurship in Kelantan, which is in line with Kelantan Agricultural Strategic Action Plan 2021-2025andKelantan Agricultural Policy. Kelantan will economically benefit from the agriculture sector by attracting more public involvement, particularly among youth.