The importance of agricultural entrepreneurship in analysis of agricultural entrepreneurship potential of Harran Universty students

The aim of this study is to reveal the potential importance of agricultural entrepreneurship in terms of the food security problem that is increasing all over the world and to evaluate the agricultural entrepreneurship potential of Harran University students in terms of social and demographic characteristics. Agricultural activities have both economic and strategic importance in terms of providing the basis for the production of essential basic food products for humanity. Supporting sustainable agricultural practices and agricultural entrepreneurship is of critical importance in terms of both the continuity of production and rural development. In this study, the Food Security Anxiety Scale and Agricultural Entrepreneurship Intention Scale were applied to 433 Harran University students and the effects of gender, rural affiliation, department, occupational status and household size were evaluated. Independent samples t-test results show that male students exhibit higher agricultural entrepreneurship intention (t = -4.651; p < 0.001), perceived behavioral control and personal attitude compared to female students. Students whose family origins continue to be connected to rural life have higher scores in entrepreneurial intention (t = 2.752; p = 0.006) and behavioral control (t = 2.442; p = 0.015) compared to those with urban origin. Students studying in technical departments of Harran University show higher entrepreneurial tendency in all sub-dimensions compared to students in social departments (t = 6.136; p < 0.001). Students whose families are farmers exhibit relatively higher entrepreneurial intention and behavioral control compared to others. Food security anxiety was found to be higher in students living in crowded families (H = 7.303; p = 0.026). Pearson correlation analysis shows that there is a positive relationship between food security anxiety and agricultural entrepreneurship intention (r = 0.258; p < 0.01), while simple linear regression analysis shows that food security anxiety predicts intention (R² = 0.067; β = 0.258; p < 0.001). While inadequate food production and access to food factors positively affect entrepreneurship intention, the nutrition sub-dimension shows a negative relationship (R² = 0.034; β = -0.850; p < 0.05). The findings show that food security anxiety motivates agricultural entrepreneurship intention and especially male students with rural backrounds, studying in technical departments and coming from farmer families have higher potential. The research shows that encouraging the young population to agricultural activities is of strategic importance in the context of ensuring food security and sustaining agricultural production and includes findings that support mechanisms such as education, financing, mentoring and advanced technologies are needed. However, the fact that the study was limited to Harran University students constitutes a limitation in terms of generalizing the results obtained. It is recommended that future studies be conducted with larger samples that will include other young populations. This study provides an important perspective for practitioners and policy makers to increase the agricultural entrepreneurship potential of young people.