Socioeconomic Determinants Influencing the Willingness of Agriculture Undergraduates to Participate in Agripreneurship in Northwest Nigeria
Subject Areas : Education and trainingAliyu Akilu Barau 1 , Gbolagade Adesiji 2
1 - Department of Agricultural Extension and Rural Development, Faculty of Agriculture, Usmanu Danfodiyo University, P.M.B. 2346, Sokoto, Nigeria
2 - Department of Agricultural Extension and Rural Development, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Ilorin, P.M.B. 1515, Ilorin, Nigeria
Keywords: willingness, agripreneurship, agriculture and socioeconomic determinants, undergraduates,
Abstract :
The study analyzed the socioeconomic determinants influencing the willingness of the agriculture undergraduates to participate in agripreneurship in Northwest, Nigeria. The study employed a questionnaire to obtain primary data. A multistage sampling technique was used to select 150 respondents from the universities under study. Both descriptive and inferential statistics were used for data analysis. Results show that a majority of the participants were male (68.7%), single (90%), within 21-25 years of age (52.6%), and had no any other tangible occupation (57.3%) besides study. Willingness to participate in agripreneurship was found to be positive among the respondents but not as primary occupation. Family economic status (ranked first) was the major socioeconomic determinants influencing the willingness of agriculture undergraduates to participate in agripreneurship. Examination of the relationship between selected socioeconomic determinants and willingness to participate in agripreneurship revealed a positive significant relationship with gender, community background, family background, family economic status, as well as with ethnicity. This clearly suggests that a number of socioeconomic determinants have considerable influence over willingness of agriculture undergraduates to participate in agripreneurship. The study, then, carries the implication that university agriculture training should be streamlined with today’s realities so as to stimulate the willingness for agripreneurship.
Adekojo, S.A. (1998). Functional agriculture for employment: An appraisal. Nigerian Journal of Agriculture Education 1(1), 79-92.
Aphunu, A. and Atoma, C.N. (2010). Rural Youth Involvement in Agricultural Production in Delta Central Agricultural Zone: Challenge to Agricultural Extension Development in Delta State. Journal of Agricultural Extension 14 (2), 46-47.
Azubuike, C.O. (2011). Influential factors affecting the attitude of students towards vocational/technical subjects in secondary schools in South-eastern Nigerian. Journal of Education Social Research 1(2), 49-56.
Czuchry, A.J., & Yasin, M.M. (2008). International entrepreneurship: The influence of culture in teaching and learning styles. Annual Journal of Entrepreneurship Education, 11, 1-15.
Davidsson, P. (1991). Continued entrepreneurship: Ability, Need and opportunity as determinants of small firm growth. Journal of Business Venturing, 6,405-429.
Djankov, S., Edward, M., Yingyi, Q., Gerard, R., & Ekaterina, Z. (2005). Who are Russia's entrepreneurs? Journal of the European Economic Association, 3(2-3), 587-597.
Food and Agriculture Organization, Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation, & International Fund for Agricultural Development. (2014). Youth and agriculture: Key challenges and concrete solutions. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), Rome, Italy, Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation (CTA), Wageningen, The Netherlands, and International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), Rome, Italy. Retrieved from http://www.ifad.org/english/youth/publications/cta_fao_ifad_pub.pdf Retrieved 27/06/2015
Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM). (2003). Global Report. Babson College, MA, United States
Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM). (2013). Global Report. Babson College, MA, United States
Grawe, N. D. and Mulligan, C. B., (2002). Economic interpretations of intergenerational correlations. Journal of Economic Perspectives, 16(3): 45-58
Hammond, C., Linton, D., Smink, J., & Drew, S. (2007). Dropout risk factors and exemplary programs, a technical report, National Dropout Prevention Centre at Clemson. Retrieved from http://www.cisnet.org/member/library/resources/ downloads/Dropout_Risk_Factors_and_Exemplary_Progra ms_FINAL_5-16-07.pdf
Hassan, M.R., Steenstra, F.A., & Udo, H.M.J. (2013). Benefits of donkeys in rural and urban areas in northwest Nigeria. African Journal of Agricultural Research. 8(48), 6202-6212.
Khosravipoor, B., Iravani H., Hosseini S.M. & Movahhed M.H., (2007). Identifying and analyzing educational factors affecting students' entrepreneurial abilities of agricultural applied-scientific centers. Iran Agricultural Science Journal, 38(2), 207-217.
Kumar, S., Vifenda, A.T., Brigitta, M., & Valerie, (2013). Students’ willingness to become an entrepreneur: A survey of non-business students of President University. Journal of Business and Management, 15(2), 94-102.
Lauder, D., Bookcock, G., & Presley, J. (1994). The system of support for SMEs in the UK and Germany. European Business Review, 94(14), 9-16
Makinde, M.A. (2009). Agriculture on the school curriculum: A plea. Teachers Monthly, 6 (13), 67.
Man, N. (2007). The agricultural community, 50 years of Malaysia agriculture: Transformation Issues. Challenges and Direction. Serdang, Selangor. UPM Publisher, pp. 128-213.
Manyong, V.M., Ikpi, A., Olayemi, J.K., Yusuf, S.A., Omonona, B.T., Okoruwa, V., & Idachaba, F.S. (2005). Agriculture in Nigeria: Identifying opportunities for increased commercialization and investment. IITA, Ibadan, Nigeria, pp. 159
Mukembo, S.C. (2013). The views of young farmers clubs members on their clubs' activities, their career interests, and their intentions to pursue agriculture-related career preparation at the post-secondary level: An embedded case study of two secondary schools in eastern Uganda. Unpublished thesis, Department of Agriculture, Oklahoma State University, USA.
National Population Commission (NPC) (2006). The 2006 Nigeria Census Figures. Retrieved from http://nigeriaworld.com/ articles/2007/jan/112.html
Noroozzadeh, R., & Mehrabi, Y.M. (2006). Applied-Scientific higher education centers to be entrepreneurs in agriculture sector. Journal of Research and Construction, 1(2) 78-91.
Okia-Anie, I.A. (1994). Venture characteristics and success: A study of selected entrepreneurships in port harcourt. MBA thesis, Rivers state University of science and Technology, Port Harcourt, Nigeria.
Oluwole, Y.A. (2008). Effective production agriculture in Nigerian secondary schools: Issues at stake. Retrieved from http://www.linked in.com/answers
Omolewa, M. (2002). Education in Africa Atlases (Nigeria). Paris-France, Les Editions J.A., Pp. 115-118.
Ottih, L.O. (2011). Entrepreneurship: Personality, process and enterprise. Port Harcourt: Pearl Publishers.
Stella, M.K. (2008). British Indian and Chinese student, graduate and academic international entrepreneurship. DIUS Research Report 08 20. Pp. 24-33
Wang, C.K., & Wong, P.K. (2004). Entrepreneurial interest of university students in Singapore. Technovation, 24(4), 163-172.
World Bank (2009).World development indicators. World Bank, Washington DC. Retrieved from http://publications. worldbank.org/WDI