Improving the small farmers’ agribusiness orientation in the lavender industry: an empirical study in the Emilia-Romagna Apennines

Agriculture can be a key resource for mountain areas. Among the possible aromatic crops, lavender displays an interesting potential but struggles to get out of the local niche for a number of difficulties encountered by farmers in developing a strategic orientation in managing this business. A multi-case study qualitative methodology is adopted to explore this phenomenon by collecting semi-structured interviews from a sample of agricultural firms leased in the Emilia-Romagna Apennines (Italy). The results contribute to the scarce literature on entrepreneurship in agriculture, showing that a farmer’s approach is, to date, more linked to the world of agriculture than of agribusiness, with low process structuring and an individual rather than cooperative approach, highlighting points for improvement for farmers, practitioners and policy makers.