Unlocking Investment Potential in Agriculture: An ISM-Based Challenge Analysis

Authors

  • Kanwal Iqbal Khan Assistant Professor, Department of Management Sciences University of Engineering and Technology, New Campus, Kala Shah Kaku, Pakistan.
  • Ayesha Shehzad Research Scholar, Institute of Business & Management University of Engineering and Technology, Lahore, Pakistan.

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.22555/pbr.v26i4.1307

Keywords:

Impact funds, MICMAC analysis, R-software, agriculture sector, socio-economic returns, ISM

Abstract

Impact funds have become common in the past few years due to the urgent need to adopt sustainable practices. The practice of sustainable financial investment techniques is urgently required to efficiently control the aftereffects of environmental deregulation, climate change, emissions, nuclear attacks, and human harm. All these situations create global concerns and are directed towards generating hunger and food crises. The emerging concept of impact funds is significant but is hindered by many challenges in its adoption phase. Still, no study has identified and listed the challenges in adopting impact funds. The present study has identified and ranked the challenges faced by the individual investors of impact funds in a hierarchical model by adopting the ISM approach. An in-depth literature review was conducted, and knowledgeable comments from the panel of 15 experts were taken to explore the contextual relations among the listed challenges. R software performed the ISM and MICMAC analyses of the 17 final obstacles. The impediments were ranked in a hierarchical model according to their challenge-creating intensity. The findings revealed that political and economic uncertainty, poor governance and regulatory framework, inflationary pressures, low scalability and sustainability, etc., are the foremost factors that create challenging situations for investors of impact funds. The study findings can be helpful for future researchers and scholars, policymakers, active and potential investors, and the members of regulatory bodies accordingly.

References

Abouarab, R., Mishra, T., & Wolfe, S. (2024). Spotting Portfolio Greenwashing in Environmental Funds. Journal of Business Ethics, 8. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-024-05783-z

Agrawal, A., & Hockerts, K. (2021). Impact investing: review and research agenda. Journal of Small Business & Entrepreneurship, 33(2), 153–181. https://doi.org/10.1080/08276331.2018.1551457

Ali, N., & Khan, K. I. (2022). Corporate social responsibility: A commercial law perspective. Global Legal Studies Review, 7(2), 26–35. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.31703/glsr.2022(VII-II).03

Akram, R., Mahmood, S., Khan, K. I., & Asghar, F. (2023). Corporate social responsibility and job satisfaction: the mediating mechanism of supervisor fairness and moderating role of gratitude. International Journal of Business Environment, 14(1), 1–14. https://doi.org/10.1504/IJBE.2023.127689

Andres, S. E., Standish, R. J., Lieurance, P. E., Mills, C. H., Harper, R. J., Butler, D. W., Adams, V. M., Lehmann, C., Tetu, S. G., Cuneo, P., Offord, C. A., & Gallagher, R. V. (2023). Defining biodiverse reforestation: Why it matters for climate change mitigation and biodiversity. Plants, People, Planet, 5(1), 27–38. https://doi.org/10.1002/ppp3.10329

Arachchi, H. A. D. M., Weerasiri, R. A. S., & Mendis, T. (2022). Impact of perceived corporate citizenship on purchase intention: across the fear of COVID-19 during the COVID-19 pandemic. South Asian Journal of Marketing, 3(1), 38–59. https://doi.org/10.1108/sajm-10-2021-0117

Bäcklund, A.-K. (2009). Impact assessment in the European Commission – a system with multiple objectives. Environmental Science & Policy, 12(8), 1077–1087. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envsci.2009.04.003

Baloch, Q. B., Maher, S., Iqbal, N., Shah, S. N., Sheeraz, M., Raheem, F., & Khan, K. I. (2022). Role of organizational environment in sustained organizational economic performance. Business Process Management Journal, 28(1), 131–149. https://doi.org/10.1108/BPMJ-02-2021-0084/FULL/PDF

Barber, B. M., Morse, A., & Yasuda, A. (2021). Impact investing. Journal of Financial Economics, 139(1), 162–185. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jfineco.2020.07.008

Bazi, M., & Sanaa, M. (2024). Morocco's Entrepreneurial Landscape and Social Impact Funding Ecosystem During the COVID-19 Pandemic. Revistamultidisciplinar.Com, 6(1), 145–168. https://doi.org/10.23882/rmd.24183

Ben Ayed, R., & Hanana, M. (2021). Artificial Intelligence to Improve the Food and Agriculture Sector. Journal of Food Quality, 7, 5584754. https://doi.org/10.1155/2021/5584754

Bornmann, L. (2017). Measuring impact in research evaluations: a thorough discussion of methods for, effects of and problems with impact measurements. Higher Education, 73(5), 775–787. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10734-016-9995-x

Brubacher, L. J., Chen, T. T. W., Longboat, S., Dodd, W., Peach, L., Elliott, S. J., Patterson, K., & Neufeld, H. (2024). Climate change, biodiversity loss, and Indigenous Peoples' health and well-being: a systematic umbrella review protocol. Systematic Reviews, 13(1), 1–9. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13643-023-02423-x

Camilleri, M. A. (2020). The market for socially responsible investing: A review of the developments. Social Responsibility Journal, 17(3), 412–428. https://doi.org/10.1108/SRJ-06-2019-0194

Christiansen, J. (2021). Securing the sea: Ecosystem-based adaptation and the biopolitics of insuring nature's rents. Journal of Political Ecology, 28(1). https://doi.org/10.2458/jpe.2899

Darling, N. (2007). Ecological Systems Theory: The Person in the Center of the Circles. Research in Human Development, 4(3–4), 203–217. https://doi.org/10.1080/15427600701663023

Feliciano, D. (2022). Factors influencing the adoption of sustainable agricultural practices: the case of seven horticultural farms in the United Kingdom. Scottish Geographical Journal, 138(3– 4), 291–320. https://doi.org/10.1080/14702541.2022.2151041

Friedman, A. L., & Miles, S. (2002). Developing stakeholder theory. Journal of Management Studies, 39(1), 1–21. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-6486.00280

Girdzijauskas, S., Streimikiene, D., Griesiene, I., Mikalauskiene, A., & Kyriakopoulos, G. L. (2022). New Approach to Inflation Phenomena to Ensure Sustainable Economic Growth. Sustainability (Switzerland), 14(1), 1–21. https://doi.org/10.3390/su14010518

Homer, S. T. (2022). Perceived corporate citizenship: A scale development and validation study adopting a bottom up approach. Quality and Quantity, 56(3), 1435–1461. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11135-021-01184-w

Hu,Y.,Jiang, H.,& Zhong,Z.(2020). Impact of green credit on industrial structure in China: theoretical mechanism and empirical analysis. Environmental Science and Pollution Research,27(10),10506–10519.https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-020-07717-4

Jain, V., & Raj, T. (2014). Modelling and analysis of FMS productivity variables by ISM, SEM and GTMA approach. Frontiers of Mechanical Engineering, 9(3), 218–232. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11465-014-0309-7

Jeffers, J., Lyu, T., & Posenau, K. (2024). The risk and return of impact investing funds. Journal of Financial Economics, 161(11), 103928. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jfineco.2024.103928

Khan, K. I., Mata, M. N., Martins, J. M., Nasir, A., Dantas, R. M., Correia, A. B., & Saghir, M. U. (2022). Impediments of green finance adoption system: Linking economy and environment. Emerging Science Journal, 6(2), 217–237. https://doi.org/10.28991/ESJ-2022-06-02-02

Khan, K. I., Naqvi, S. M. W. A., Ghafoor, M. M., & Akash, R. S. I. (2020). Sustainable portfolio optimization with higher-order moments of risk. Sustainability (Switzerland), 12(5), 1–14. https://doi.org/10.3390/su12052006

Khan, K. I., Qadeer, F., & Ghafoor, M. M. (2017).Debt Specialization within profitability sub-groups: A new perspective of debt structure choices. FWU Journal of Social Sciences, 11(2), 92-108. chrome-extension://efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglclefindmkaj/https://sbbwu.edu.pk/journal/Winter2017Vol11No_2/9.%20Degree%20of%20Debt%20Specialization%20Within%20Profitability1.pdf.

Khan, K. I., Rashid, T., Mahmood, S., Qadeer, F., & Sheeraz, M. (2024). Sustainable supply chain finance: Evolution, developments and proposed future agenda. Kurdish Studies, 11(12), 944–963. https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4851656

Magesa, B. A., Mohan, G., Matsuda, H., Melts, I., Kefi, M., & Fukushi, K. (2023). Understanding the farmers' choices and adoption of adaptation strategies, and plans to climate change impact in Africa: A systematic review. Climate Services, 30(October 2022), 100362. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cliser.2023.100362

Medina, C., & Scales, I. R. (2023). Finance and biodiversity conservation: Insights from rhinoceros conservation and the first wildlife conservation bond. Oryx, 58(1), 90–99. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0030605322001648

Penfield, T., Baker, M. J., Scoble, R., & Wykes, M. C. (2014). Assessment, evaluations, and definitions of research impact: A review. Research Evaluation, 23(1), 1-12. https://doi.org/10.1093/reseval/rvt021

Ramoglou, S., Zyglidopoulos, S., & Papadopoulou, F. (2023). Is there opportunity without stakeholders? A stakeholder theory critique and development of opportunity actualization. Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, 47(1), 113–141. https://doi.org/10.1177/10422587211043354

Shehzad, A., & Khan, K. I. (2024a). Impediments of Social Responsibility Investment adoption System: a post-pandemic Qualitative Analysis. Qualitative Research in Financial Markets. https://doi.org/10.1108/QRFM-04-2023-0089

Shehzad, A., & Khan, K. I. (2024b). Impediments to biodiversity finance implementation system: A thematic analysis. Pakistan Journal of Commerce and Social Sciences, 18(4),925-960. https://www.jespk.net/paper.php?paperid=4552

Shehzad, A., & Khan, K. I. (2024c). Time traveling through research: Bibliometric analysis of biodiversity finance in agricultural sector for SDGs. Journal of Agriculture and Food Research, 18(October), 101485. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jafr.2024.101485

Tekula, R., & Andersen, K. (2019). The Role of Government,Nonprofit, and Private Facilitation of the Impact Investing Marketplace. Public Performance & Management Review, 42(1), 142–161. https://doi.org/10.1080/15309576.2018.1495656

Thakur, P., Mehta, P., Devi, C., Sharma, P., Singh, K. K., Yadav, S., Lal, P., Raghav, Y. S., Kapoor, P., & Mishra, P. (2023). Marketing performance and factors influencing farmers choice for agricultural output marketing channels: the case of garden pea (Pisum sativum) in India. Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems, 7. https://doi.org/10.3389/fsufs.2023.1270121

Ubfal, D., & Maffioli, A. (2011). The impact of funding on research collaboration: Evidence from a developing country. Research Policy, 40(9), 1269–1279. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.respol.2011.05.023

Willmott, H. (2015). Why Institutional Theory Cannot Be Critical. Journal of Management Inquiry, 24(1),105–111. https://doi.org/10.1177/1056492614545306

Additional Files

Published

2025-04-14

Issue

Section

Articles

How to Cite

Khan, Kanwal Iqbal, and Ayesha Shehzad, trans. 2025. “Unlocking Investment Potential in Agriculture: An ISM-Based Challenge Analysis ”. Pakistan Business Review 26 (4): 383-404. https://doi.org/10.22555/pbr.v26i4.1307.

Similar Articles

71-80 of 102

You may also start an advanced similarity search for this article.