Determinants of youth participation in agribusiness activities in Ikwuano Local Government Area, Abia State, Nigeria

Abstract

Young people perceive agriculture as a profession of intense labour, not profitable and unable to support their livelihood compared to what white collar jobs offer. The study was on determinants of youth participation in agribusiness activities in Ikwuano Local Government Area, Abia State, Nigeria. Specifically, the study examined the socio-economic characteristics of youths in the study area; identified various agro-related enterprises participated by the youths and estimated factors that influence youth participation in agro- related enterprises. Random sampling technique was used to select 90 respondents for the study. Data were analyzed using both descriptive statistics and Probit regression model. Majority (62.42%) of the youths were male. Mean age of the respondents was 23 years. About 90% of the youths were single with diverse levels of formal education. The agribusiness enterprises mostly participated in by the youths were animal production (51.1%) and crop production (23.33%). Result of Probit regression showed that age, household size, access to land, non-farm income, empowerment were 1% respectively and sex (5%) were significant variables influencing youth participation in agribusiness activities. It was recommended that youth in the study area enhance their livelihood sources through diversifying into other agro-related enterprises such as sale of agro-inputs and agro-processing.