Do poor farmers have entrepreneurship skill, intention, and competence? Lessons from transmigration program in rural Gorontalo Province, Indonesia

Abstract

Abstract Transmigration program is a part of rural development to reduce poverty in which entrepreneurship was also developed. It becomes necessary to explore how the program affects the entrepreneurial aspects of the poor farmers. The objectives of this study are (1) to measure entrepreneurship skill, intention, risk taking, social valuation, and competence of poor farmers, (2) to know the impact of transmigration program in improving the competence of poor farmers, and (3) to analyze the influence of skills, intentions, risk taking, and social valuation toward entrepreneurial competence of poor farmers. One hundred twenty poor transmigrant and 120 local farmer households were interviewed in this study. The data were analyzed by descriptive quantitative method and multiple regression analysis by using SPSS 22. The results showed that transmigration program that provides farmland land freely can improve skill, entrepreneurship intention, risk taking capability, and social valuation of poor farmers. Yet, there is a gap between skills and intentions where entrepreneurship intentions are greater than their skills. The result shows that transmigrant entrepreneurship competence is higher than that of local farmers. However, social valuation of local households is higher than that of transmigrants due to their less adaptability in society. Regression analysis shows that social valuation, skills, intentions, and risk taking have a significant effect on both local and transmigrant entrepreneurship competencies. It can be concluded that transmigration program has successfully changed the mindset of poor farmers to become more entrepreneurial oriented and is one of the important factors in reducing the poverty level particularly in Gorontalo Province, Indonesia.