Economic analysis of youth participation in agripreneurship in Benin

Abstract

The study assessed the factors affecting youth participation in rural entrepreneurship in Benin using data from the School-to-Work Transition Survey (SWTS) and applying the binary logit and the multinomial logit models. The results showed youth who have a larger number of children are more likely to choose agricultural businesses (agripreneurship) while those who have formal education, who have received training on entrepreneurship, who have registered business, and those who have located in urban areas are more likely to engage in non-agricultural businesses. Within agripreneurship, youth who belong to a larger household are more likely to engage in farming while those who are educated, who have access to credit, and who are located in urban areas are more likely to be engaged in non-farming agri-businesses. The study also revealed that cash crop production among Beninese youth was positively influenced by access to credit. The findings suggest that it would be necessary to promote development programmes that are geared towards enhancing the capacities of the youth with regards to concepts and skills of entrepreneurship in agriculture and measures to overcome challenges associated with different agribusiness activities.