Young People and Agricultural Employment: Locality and Interest Factors
Osadebamwen Anthony Ogbeide, Ideba Ele & Emmanuel Ikheloa (2015). Young People and Agricultural Employment: Locality and Interest Factors, Mayfair Journal of Agriculture Development in Emerging Economies Vol. 1 Iss. 1 Pp 1-13

Abstract

Agriculture is a commonly used strategy for providing employment to young people particularly in the developing countries. One of the reasons why this strategy has not been successful is that resources are directed to too many young people that have no interest in agriculture and are not suited to living in the rural areas where agriculture is practiced. The objectives of this paper include to investigate if socio-demographic characteristics influence young people choice of locality; develop measurement scale for measuring the interest dimension of young people’s involvement with agriculture; and to determine if correlation exists between locality and interest in agriculture. This study was conducted in Edo State, Nigeria using young student respondents. The result indicates there is a relationship between social demographics and the locality of young people. The study also indicates a correlation exist between locality of young people and their interest in agriculture. Young people from rural background are more inclined to consider agriculture as an employment and are more interested in its development. Therefore the agricultural policy of the government must be redefined with the intent of applying the rule of comparative advantage in engaging the young people in agriculture. The generalisation of the study should be made with caution as the sample size was small and most of the references used are from countries that are different socio-culturally.

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