Unpacking the multidimensional nature of farmer resilience: a latent-variable assessment of the role of education

Building resilient farm systems requires understanding how different behavioural and adaptive capacities shape farmers’ ability to cope with and respond to shocks. This study develops and validates a multidimensional framework of farm-level resilience and examines the extent to which formal education, both general and agricultural, strengthens these capacities. Using survey data from 480 farmers, we estimate a structural equation model (SEM) capturing four latent resilience dimensions: robustness, adaptability, transformability, and perceived
behavioural control (PBC), and their combined influence on a forward-looking resilience trajectory. Reliability tests and item diagnostics identified and removed weak indicators, resulting in a well-fitting measurement model. Results from the structural model show that adaptability is the only dimension that has a statistically significant positive effect on farmers’ perceived resilience trajectory, highlighting its central role in shaping future-oriented resilience. Regression analyses using SEM-derived factor scores indicate that agricultural education, rather than general education, is consistently associated with higher adaptability,
transformability, and PBC, as well as a stronger overall resilience trajectory. These findings emphasise the importance of discipline-specific agricultural training in building resilience and support policies that expand access to higher-level vocational agricultural education.