The Role of Public Policy in Strengthening Training and Development Practices for Smart Agribusiness Transformation

Abstract

In today's fast-paced digital era, the need for smart agribusiness transformation in emerging markets has been accelerated by growing environmental uncertainty. The study uses a quantitative cross-sectional research design, and data are collected via a structured questionnaire administered to employees, managers, and professionals in the agribusiness sector. The collected data were analysed using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM) in SmartPLS to examine the direct, mediating, and moderating relationships among the proposed variables. The results indicate that agricultural training policy and public policy support significantly and positively affect training and development practices. The training and development practices are positively influencing smart agribusiness transformation (β = 0.195, p = 0.007), and the environmental dynamism is not statistically significantly moderating the relationship with smart agribusiness transformation (β = -0.024, p = 0.316). The model also explained well the training practices (R² = 0.727) and the agribusiness transformation (R² = 0.700). The study belongs both theoretically, as it extends the Human Capital Theory in the context of agribusiness, and practically, given the strong emphasis on the need for a workforce development approach through policy to support sustainable digital agricultural transformation in emerging economies.