The parent effect and patriarchal gatekeeping: familial dynamics shaping youth sustainable agriculture entrepreneurship pathways in Zimbabwe

Inroduction Youth sustainable agricultural entrepreneurship (SAE) in Sub-Saharan Africa is weakened not only by structural constraints but by familial dynamics that have received limited analytical attention. This study examines youth perceptions of how parental attitudes, resource gatekeeping, and patriarchal norms shape youth aspirations and entrepreneurial pathways in Hwedza District, Zimbabwe. Its central argument is that the parent effect - conceptualised as the ways youth perceive parental attitudes, resource control, and gatekeeping as shaping their agricultural entrepreneurship - constitutes a primary household-level constraint on youth SAE. Patriarchal gatekeeping is analysed as the gendered dimension of this parent effect, while the psychology of provisionality and the success tax are presented as supporting constructs specifying the mechanisms through which it operates. Methods The research employed an interpretivist case-study framework, relying on in-depth interviews and focus-group discussions with 32 youth participants and 15 key stakeholders across four wards. Data were analysed using Reflexive Thematic Analysis, guided by Positive Youth Development (PYD) Theory and Hart’s Ladder of Participation, adapted to the household domain as the analytical lens for examining how youth report these dynamics. Results Youth accounts indicate that parents are perceived as gatekeepers in resource allocations, and youth describe anticipatory discouragement from farming. These practices were reported by youth participants as confining them to the lower rungs of household participation, which they associated with erosion of competence, confidence, and connection. Discussion Based on youth accounts, the study suggests that youth agripreneurship interventions cannot treat the household as a passive delivery unit. The research contributes by centring the family as a primary arena of entrepreneurial contestation and by demonstrating the household as a participatory ladder where developmental outcomes are perceived by youth to be conditioned by parental gatekeeping. Implications point to household-centred interventions, formalised family land stewardship agreements, and youth-targeted financial instruments that bypass parental control.