Entrepreneurial Skills Acquired by Agribusiness Graduates in the Management of Small-Scale Agribusiness Ventures in Bayelsa State, Nigeria

Abstract

The study investigated the entrepreneurial skills acquired by agribusiness graduates in managing small-scale agribusiness ventures in Bayelsa State, Nigeria. Three research questions and three null hypotheses were developed to guide the study. Descriptive survey research design was adopted. The population for the study consisted of 150 respondents, which included 100 agribusiness graduates and 50 experienced farmers in Bayelsa State. The instrument for data collection was a structured 64-item close ended questionnaire. The instrument was face-validated by three experts and the internal consistency determined using Cronbach Alpha method which yielded a reliability coefficient of 0.74. The data collected were analysed using mean scores while t-test statistics was used for testing the null hypotheses at P<0.05 level of significance. The study found 14 entrepreneurial skills acquired by the agribusiness graduates, 26 entrepreneurial skills the graduates have not possessed 12 challenges in managing small-scale agribusiness and 12 measures for enhancing profit from agribusiness. Experienced farmers and agribusiness graduates did not differ significantly in their mean responses on the acquired entrepreneurial skills, challenges and profitability enhancement measures. Based on these findings, the study among others, recommended that agribusiness graduates should periodically update their entrepreneurial skills through refreshment programmes.