Exploring the potential of vertical farming in Oman: opportunities for advancing agriculture and entrepreneurship toward vision 2040

Purpose This study examines vertical farming (VF) as one of the promising avenues for entrepreneurship among unemployed youth in Oman. The study intends to determine the potential of VF to promote self-sufficiency and economic growth by understanding the role and relationship between awareness, perception, knowledge and career choice as entrepreneurship in VF. Design/methodology/approach This involves analysing data from 1,259 respondents from institutions of higher learning using Pearson correlation, regression, mediation and pair-plot analysis to determine the relationship between awareness, perception, knowledge and career choices about VF. Findings The study highlights a positive relationship between awareness and perception variables indicating a strong correlation coefficient, r = 0.5645, p-value < 0.001. The study shows that though awareness brings in career choices, as building perceptions mediates and results in decision-making. It follows then that for the success of promoting VF, moulding positive perceptions about its profitability and sustainability is required. Further, the cost-benefit analysis (CBA) reveals that even as VF has a positive return on investment (ROI), the margins of profit remain low at an ROI of 2.71%, hence making large-scale entrepreneurship potentially unviable without further support. Research limitations/implications The study is limited to researchers, academicians and entrepreneurs. The perceptions of the respondents may not comprehensively reflect the potential scope of VF in the regional context. Further, there was limited participation from agri-entrepreneurs from the study area, with very few responses from the conventional farming community. Social implications Amidst these uncertainties, undertaking agriculture through VF technique is a prospective approach to overcome the challenges and meet the national priorities of Oman. Hence, this research study adds insights to the concept of VF as a means of achieving food security, food production demand and self-sufficiency through sustainable management of resources available in Oman and encourages the educated youth to embrace agriculture as prospective ventures for employment. Originality/value This study strategically explores the relevance of VF in the socio-economic and climatic environment of Oman, where arable land is scarce and youth unemployment is high. By analysing the dynamics of awareness, perception and career choice and by analysing economic viability in the form of localized CBA, the present study provides original, context-specific contributions that are largely missing from the available literature on sustainable agriculture and entrepreneurship in the Gulf region.