Factors Affecting Entrepreneurial Intention and Behavior among the Indigenous Farming Community in Mountain Province, Philippines

Purpose – With the shift of the Philippine economy towards an agribusiness-driven sector from mere production-oriented farming, indigenous people have been encouraged to engage in entrepreneurship as it is seen as a means to improve their socio-economic status and their community. This study attempted to fill the gap in indigenous entrepreneurship research as it delved on the factors influencing entrepreneurial intention and behavior in an indigenous rice farming community in the northern Philippines. Design/Methodology/Approach – This study assessed the factors affecting the entrepreneurial intention and behavior among indigenous rice farmers in Bun-ayan, Sabangan, Mountain Province, Philippines by analyzing the entrepreneurial indicators and predictors through correlation and multiple regression analysis of responses from 74 indigenous rice farmers. Findings – Among all the entrepreneurship predictors in this research, age, educational attainment, years in farming, occupation of the farmer’s father and mother, entrepreneurial inclination, entrepreneurial role model, entrepreneurial education, personal attitude, subjective norm and perceived behavioral control were significantly related to entrepreneurial intention. Among the significant variables extracted from the correlation analysis, the following factors affecting entrepreneurial intention and behavior are age, father’s occupation and entrepreneurial inclination. Furthermore, it was found that socio-demographic factors and entrepreneurial inclination determine the intention of indigenous rice farmers to engage in entrepreneurial activities. The Theory of Planned Behavior indicators become insignificant when other predictors are incorporated with it. Research Implications – Though there is evidence of a high level of entrepreneurial intention among the indigenous farming community, challenges pertinent to culture preservation vis-a-vis the indigenous farming community’s capacity to translate such intention into entrepreneurial behavior need to be addressed.