COMPLETE SCHOOL PROJECT TOPICS & MATERIALS :
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ABSTRACT

Youths constitute a formidable force in the agricultural production process, constituting a sizeable proportion of the workforce especially in the rural areas. While their contribution towards attaining food security cannot be underestimated yet their apparent lukewarm attitude towards agriculture is a source of concern. Majority of agricultural policies and programmes formulated in Nigeria do not consider stirring up the interests of youth, this has also made youths to seek employment in other sectors of the economy in order to empower themselves economically, and leaving the bulk of agricultural practices in the hands of old people. The paper reveals inadequacies in past agricultural policies and highlight ways to stir up the interest of youths in the field. The paper among many other recommendations says that ICT should be promoted among youths to uplift the face of agriculture from playing the second fiddle to other professions.

Keywords: Youth, Agriculture, Policies, Empowerment, Nigeria

INTRODUCTION

Agriculture is a known profession in Nigeria and the largest employer of labour in the country. Yet from observation, most people practicing it as a means of livelihood are often the old and uneducated youths. The youth at present, constitute about 60% of Nigeria’s population and have over the years made significant contributions to National Development (Vision 2010 report, 2005).

The poor state of youth participation in agricultural activities in Nigeria has been a matter of great concern among agriculturists, agricultural researchers as well as administrators. The decline in the number of students entering the field of agriculture has been on the rise over the years, many students unfortunately look down on agriculture, even despising it, hence resulting in non-challant attitude towards Agriculture.  Agricultural transformation will not take place in developing countries such as Nigeria unless there is improved technical knowledge and willingness of youth to be in the sector. Idachaba (1995).

As a result of the main focus of Nigerian economy on oil, while agriculture is neglected, youths do not tend to see any potential in agriculture. Hence, a lot of young people have no interest in farming because they don’t see it as a lucrative business (Mohammed-Lawal et al, 2009). According to Abdulsalam-Saghir et al (2008), the youth see agricultural practice as inferior, unfulfilling and very hard. There is an urgent need to address the issue so as to change the negative view of youth towards agriculture and encourage them to embrace the vocation. This is because the development and future of agriculture like other sectors of life depends on the youths. Youths have the potential to overcome some of the major constraints to expanding animal production in developing countries such as pest control, feeding, genetic improvement and protection against predators because they are often more open to new ideas and practices than adult farmers. They play an important role in awareness raising on different subjects (Ijere, 1992).

Mobilizing the youths for national development is a common phenomenon amongst the western and developing countries. In such countries as Great Britain, Netherlands, Denmark, Germany, the United States of America and Tanzania, the involvement of youths in agricultural production through youth programmes had contributed significantly to agricultural development and empowering the citizenry and youths to always meet the full needs and deep seated aspiration to be self sufficient in food production (FAO, 1990). Indeed, since the youths are the future of any country, it is useful to develop them into patriotic citizens, future progressive farmers and better citizens.

CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK AND DEFINITIONS

A lot of scholars have different views about the group that constitute youth and as a result of this, it is not an easy task to define or identify who is a youth. Eremie (2002) described youth as a state or time of being young, a transition between childhood and adulthood. Similarly, Gwarry et al (2008) described youth as a state of transition between children and adulthood characterized by energy, intelligence and hope. According to Ijioma and Ibezim (2010) youth is a stage in one’s life when one is agile, energetic, determined and adventous in experimenting different perspective of life. They further stressed that youths have high enthusiasm and learn very fast. They are prone to innovativeness, less risk-shy and eager to change. Nwachukwu (2008) defined youth as people within the age of 15 and 24 years, Adegboye et al (2010) considers a youth to be anybody between 12 and 30 years of age. According to Onuekwusi (2005) the youths have been identified as contributing the major resource base for any country who wants to embark on any meaningful agricultural and rural development projects. This is because they can easily develop the skills, knowledge and attitude that enable them to take an active role in the society. Adegboye and Eniolorunda (2006) opined that