Rural youths' participation in agriculture: prospects, challenges and the implications for policy in Nigeria

The study aimed at assessing rural youth participation in agriculture, their access to production resources and services and the effects of youths' access to inputs and services on farm productivity and youths' welfare. The study was conducted in three states (each randomly selected from the three agro-ecological zones of northern Nigeria). Two Local Government Areas (LGAs) with high agricultural potential were randomly selected from each state. Because of the similarity in physical and socio-economic characteristics of rural communities, three villages were randomly selected from each LGA, and six youths from each village. Thus three states, six LGAs, 18 villages and 108 rural youths were the sample frame for the study. Data were collected using a questionnaire and were analyzed using descriptive statistics. The study revealed that 79% of rural youths were involved in agricultural activities for subsistence and sale. Over 62% of youths earned between N10,000.00–N50,000.00 per annum ($68.96–$344.82) from agricultural activities. Only 2.8% of youths reported that inputs were readily available in their communities. According to the youths, marketing of farm produce was associated with numerous problems, including low prices (59.3%), bad road network (37%) and poor/lack of storage facilities (13%). In spite of these challenges, youths have assets such as good literacy levels (50%) and access to agricultural information among others. In terms of food security, 70% of youths reported that they had adequate stock of food to feed on throughout the year, while 30% said they did not have enough stock for the year, leading to hunger. The implication of the findings is that youths should be given the necessary orientation/training on agricultural production, which should be backed up with production resources and services to enable the youths to embark on agricultural activities in a sustainable manner.