ABSTRACT : The research conducted aims to determining the influence of challenges associated with frugal business modelling on agribusiness sustainability. The study employed a cross-sectional survey design and targeted managers and operational staff working in agribusinesses affiliated with the National Association of Seed Traders of Ghana (NASTAG). The collected data underwent a series of statistical analyses, including the data analysis method used for this research, which is the Partial Least Square – Structural Equation Model (PLS-SEM) with the help of the SmartPLS 4.0 application. These analyses were performed on the questionnaires, which contained variables assessing the challenges related to frugal business modelling and variables assessing the determinants of agribusiness sustainability. In accordance to conceptual fitness, three variables – funding, information distribution, and institutional framework – were identified as variables of the challenges related to frugal business modelling. The findings of the study revealed that the challenges related to FBM have a statistically significant and unfavourable impact on the sustainability of agribusinesses. The results revealed that the exogenous variables of this model are very capable of explaining endogenous variables, with a medium degree of explanatory effect value. Therefore, the model in this study explains the latent variables well and it has a moderate degree of explanatory power. While the research findings show that agribusiness sustainability is being negatively impacted by a number of issues, it shows that pragmatic measures need to be worked on theoretically, practically and in policy so as to neutralise the impact of these identified challenges. However, despite the significance of these findings, the study also recommended the exploration of longitudinal studies. Conducting longitudinal research would also enable a deeper understanding of the enduring impact of frugal business modelling on agribusiness sustainability. By examining agribusinesses over an extended period, researchers can gain insights into the dynamics and long-term effects of frugal practices on sustainability outcomes.

KEYWORDS – Agribusiness sustainability, contingency model, frugal business modelling, frugal innovation, system resource model, theory of sustainability