Analysis of University Students ’ Perception on Agricultural Entrepreneurship Option Towards Tackling Unemployment Among Educated Youths

Despite the scourge of unemployment among university graduates in Nigeria and the potentials of agriculture in employment generation, there is low participation of educated Nigerian youths in the agricultural sector. This study analysed the factors associated with undergraduate students’ perception on self-employment through agricultural enterprises. A multi-stage sampling procedure was used to select three hundred and seventytwo respondents. Data for the study was obtained with a well-structured questionnaire. Precision counts, frequencies, percentages, and the Pearson’s Product Moment Correlation were used for data analysis. The results reveal a high (68 %) negative perception on agricultural entrepreneurship. This perception was significantly related to the respondents’ sex (0.638), parents’ occupation (0.738), home background (0.737), sources of agricultural information (0.439), and prior interest in agriculture (-0.917) at p<0.05. Poultry (84.7 %) and fish farming (79.6 %) were the most preferred agricultural ventures among the respondents. Access to start-up capital and availability of ready markets for produce was identified as major motivational factors for the engagement of educated youths in Agriculture. The study concluded that educated youths had a negative perception of self-employment in agricultural ventures but could be motivated towards same. It also put forward, some recommendations towards enhancing self-employment in agriculture among youths.


Introduction
Employment and job creation for the youths remain frontline issues in developing countries.Although the United Nations defines youth as individuals aged between 15 and 24, the Federal Government of Nigeria (2001) modified the age limits to include all persons of ages 18 to 35.The country's population of about 167 million (National Bureau of Statistics, 2012) comprises of over 40 % youth (National Population Commission, 2013).It is however unfortunately that as the youth population grows in Nigeria so does the unemployment rate.National Bureau of Statistics (2016) reported an increase in the unemployment rate in the third quarter of 2016 from 13.3 % to 13.9 %.Patterson et al., (2006) described youth unemployment as one of the developmental problems that are being faced by every developing economy.Fajana (2000) opined that unemployment is a situation where people who are willing and able to work are unable to find suitable paid employment.It is a macroeconomic problem since it impacts poverty level negatively, with associated welfare challenges.While it is believed that people who lack skills, knowledge, tools, beliefs, and values to perform financially rewarded activities are not usually employable, the reality of the situation in Nigeria is that of millions who have skills, knowledge and all the wherewithal and yet cannot lay hands on jobs.With over a hundred Government and privately-owned Universities in the country, graduates of various disciplines are released annually into the already oversaturated labour market.This situation has been blamed on the lack of visionary leadership, corruption and insincerity that has characterized governance in Nigeria.The resultant direct poverty effects, considerable cognitive, health, nutrition and psychological deficits are some of the identified consequences of youth employment (Sum, 2002).Youth unemployment is also associated with increased incidence of criminal behavior (ILO, 2000(ILO, 2006;;Kotloff, 2004as sited in Manpower Group, 2012).More importantly, youth unemployment represents a huge waste of the resources of developing economies.
Agriculture is uniquely positioned to provide self-employment and means of livelihood for the unemployed in Nigeria.This is possible through the creation of entrepreneurial activities in agronomy, soil science, animal science, agricultural engineering, agricultural economics, agricultural extension, home economics, horticulture, forestry, aquaculture, veterinary medicine, etc.In addition to the array of options available, the possibility of establishing agricultural enterprises on small-scale levels and growing it gradually makes small start-ups easy and hence reduces the pressure for huge capital as may be required in some other sectors.Production cycles are also short for food crops, fisheries, poultry, etc. hence returns are quick and may be reinvested for growth.The labour-intensive and highly innovation-driven nature of agricultural production in Nigeria places the youth in an advantageous position in agricultural entrepreneurship (Oyekale, 2011).
The youths constitute a formidable force for the development of agriculture in any nation particularly the agrarian ones (Iwala 2006).Nnadi and Akwiwu (2008) asserted that youths possess a lot of energy and other inestimable assets for productivity.According to Muhammad-Lawal et al. (2009), since agricultural development is the basic tool for economic development, there is the need for more emphasis to be placed on the role youth can play in agriculture.Amadi (2012) opined that the rapid decline in agricultural production is connected to the continuous decline in agricultural labour which he attributed to the continued efflux of the youth and school leavers from the rural farming communities in search of employment in fields other than agriculture.
The agricultural entrepreneurship option to youth unemployment can also address food security concerns (Bahaman et. al., 2010;Abdullah and Sulaiman, 2013).However, despite the enormous opportunities for self-employment in the agricultural sector, most Nigerian graduates continue to hunt for office jobs that are no longer available.The task of attracting the educated Nigerian youths to agriculture has proven to be a monumental one.Many studies have reported the poor perception of the youths on career options and enterprises in agriculture.However, an understanding of the factors which influence this perception will assist in promoting high positive perception of agricultural entrepreneurship among the youths.Knowledge of the factors that could motivate them towards agriculture will assist in planning and implementation of youth agricultural programmes.It is against this background that this study, therefore, sought to analyse the factors associated with educated youths' willingness to engage in agricultural ventures.The specific objectives of the study were to: 1. describe the socio-economic background of the respondents; 2. assess educated youths' perception of self-employment in agriculture related enterprises; 3. identify youth's preference for agricultural enterprises; and 4. identify the factors that could motivate educated youths towards selfemployment in agricultural enterprises.

Hypothesis of the Study
The hypothesis formulated for the study is stated in the null form as follows; Ho: There is no significant relationship between the respondents' socio-economic characteristics and their perception on self-employment in agricultural enterprises.

Materials and Methods The Study Area
The study was conducted at the University of Ilorin, Ilorin, and Kwara State, Nigeria.University of Ilorin main campus is situated some 19.1 km to the city of Ilorin, Kwara State, Nigeria at latitude 8.48° North and longitude 4.67° East and at a mean altitude of 290 meters above sea level (Google Map Data, 2016)

Sampling Procedure and Sample Size
A three-stage sampling procedure was used in the selection of the respondents for the study.The first stage was the purposive selection of the final year students based on the fact that they were about to complete their studies and should be expected to have ideas about what they would want to engage in after schooling.The second stage involved the random selection of six out of the twelve faculties in the institution.The selected faculties were Education, Arts, Life Sciences, Management Sciences, Communication and Information Sciences and Social Sciences.Finally, ten percent (10 %) of the final year students of each of these faculties were randomly selected to give a sample size of three hundred and seventy-two (372) respondents.

Data Collection and Analysis
Data collection was through the administration of a well-structured questionnaire.Data were elicited on the socio-economic characteristics of the respondents, perceptions on self-employment in agricultural enterprises; agricultural enterprises options preferred by the respondents and factors that could motivate them towards selfemployment in agricultural enterprises.Data were analysed using the statistical package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) software.Descriptive statistics such as precision counts, frequencies, and percentages were used to describe the data collected.The perceptions of the students on agricultural enterprises and factors that motivate them towards self-employment in agricultural enterprises were measured using a five-point Likert scale.In both cases, lists of possible factors were drawn from literature, and the respondents were required to rate the extent to which they agreed or disagreed with statements constructed based on the factors.The scale was graduated thus; strongly agreed (5), agreed (4), undecided (3), disagreed (2) and strongly disagreed (1).Mean scores were generated for individual respondents by aggregating their scores in the different items.The Pearson Product Moment Correlation (PPMC) was used to test the formulated hypothesis.PPMC was used in the hypothesis testing because it offers a base to test the null hypothesis that the true correlation coefficient p is equal to 0, based on the value of the sample correlation coefficient r.Another reason is to derive a confidence interval that, on repeated sampling, will have a given probability of containing p.

𝜌𝑋, 𝑌 = 𝐶𝑂𝑉 (𝑋, 𝑌) 𝜎𝑋𝜎𝑌
Where: • COV is the covariance •  is the standard deviation of  The formula for  can also be written as

Socio-economic Characteristics of the Respondents
Data presented in Table 1 reveals that more (53.2%) of the respondents were female.The age distribution ranged between 19 and 37 years, with a mean of 24.7 years and a modal age of 24 years.
The age bracket is an economically active one and people in this bracket are usually motivated and innovative (Matanmi and Olabanji, 2013).Only a few (5.1 %) of the respondents were married.A notable proportion of the respondents (85.0 %) resided in the urban areas, while 12.6 % and 2.4 % live in semi-urban areas and rural areas respectively.Life in rural areas increases exposure to agricultural activities as rural rural dwellers are predominantly farmers (M (M (M (Matanmi and Olabanji, 2013).Urban areas provide lower experience in agricultural activities.Hence, majority of the respondents may not have enough agriculture related experience or exposure that drive their interest in career options in agriculture.Most of the respondents' parents were employed workers as most of their fathers (81.7 %), and mothers (61.8 %) were government/private sector employees.Parents are role models; they set examples, provide opportunities, and give advice to their children most times based on their level of exposure and experiences in life.About half (50.8 %) of the respondents preferred a career path in civil service, 25.8 % hoped to be selfemployed while 23.4 % aspired to work in the private sector.Internet was revealed by most of the respondents (78.8 %) as their main source of agricultural information.About 51.1 % of the respondents were interested in agricultural business.

Perception of Youth on self-employment in Agricultural Enterprises
Table 2 shows the distribution of the respondents based on their perception of agricultural ventures.The respondents showed negative perception with an average mean score (MS) of 3.40 and Standard deviation (S.D) 1.221.The respondents perceived agriculture as labour-intensive (MS=3.58,S.D=1.456), and an alternative job option of last resort due to difficulties in accessing white collar jobs' (MS=3.01,S.D=1.332).Also, they perceived that becoming an entrepreneur in the agricultural sector was highly risky (MS=3.10,S.D=1.305) and that agribusiness is seasonal in nature meaning there could be periods of waiting without income (MS=3.11,S.D=1.386).Furthermore, they perceived food security as government's responsibility (MS=3.72,S.D=1.087).They, however, disagreed that farming was an inferior occupation that is suitable for the uneducated or retirees (MS=2.94,S.D=1.563).Also, the respondents viewed agribusiness as profitable only for youths with right skills (MS=4.04,S.D=0.907) and that agricultural entrepreneurship is not a good job creation strategy (MS=3.23,S.D=1.117).Finally, they would rather practice in their areas of areas of disciplines (MS=3.40,S.D=1.063) and that self-employment in agriculture is for graduates of agricultural related disciplines (MS=3.89,S.D=0.995).This result gives credence to the view expressed by Muthee (2010) that the youths are not involved in agricultural activities because agriculture as a career choice is largely burdened with misperceptions and a lack of information and awareness.

Respondents Preference among Agricultural Enterprises options
The result in Table 3 reveals the responses of the respondents to the question of the kind of agricultural business they preferred if they were to be self-employed in agricultural ventures.Poultry farming was the most indicated option with over two-third of the respondents (84.7 %) revealing an interest in it.About 80% indicated interest in fish farming, 49.7 % in arable crop farming, and 33.3 % considered livestock farming.Also, 28.0 % of the respondents preferred the sale of agricultural commodities, 26.3 % viewed greenhouse farming as a considerable option.Also, 22.0 % indicated the sale of agro inputs, 15.3 % were interested in cash crop farming, 13.7 % considered agro-processing ventures.Furthermore, 12.6 % of the respondents admitted that they could own apiary businesses.The findings revealed that poultry and fish farming was the most preferred agricultural enterprises among the students.

Motivational Factors for Respondents' Involvement in Self-Employment in Agricultural Enterprises
Table 4 shows responses of the respondents on factors that could motivate them to engage in agricultural ventures.Availability of ready market and delivery centres for agricultural produce (M=4.34,S.D=0.970) was the most prominent factor that could encourage the consideration of agricultural ventures among the respondents.This was followed by the availability of start-up fund (M=4.22,S.D=1.067).Access to Land (M=4.13,S.D=1.132)ranked third while adequate farming knowledge and information on agriculture was considered fourth.According to the international labour office (2006), the level of knowledge and familiarity with the concept of entrepreneurship are factors that encourage youths to engage in a business and become entrepreneurs.Also, sufficient entrepreneurial skill and training, as well as quick returns to investment (M=4.06)ranked fifth.Also, access to market information for agricultural products was considered the seventh determinant.Access to technical support (M=3.99,S.D=1.186)ranked eighth as access to adequate financial services (Credit and insurance) and modernizing agriculture/provision of training opportunities in new technologies (M=3.98) was considered as the ninth factor.

Test of Hypothesis
H0 1 : There is no significant relationship between the socio-economic characteristics of the respondents and their perception of selfemployment in agricultural enterprises.The result of the Pearson Product Moment Correlation(PPMC) analysis of the responses shows that sex (r=0.638),fathers' occupation (r=0.738) and mothers' occupation (r=0.780) were significantly associated with perception at p<0.05.Home background (r=0.373),source of agricultural information (r=0.439) as well as interest in agricultural business (r=-0.917)weresignificant at p<0.01 while age (r=0.042),religion (r=0.029) and career path envisaged (r= -0.032) were however not significantly associated with the respondents' perception.This implies that age, religion and career path envisaged had no significant relationship with students' perception.The positive coefficients confirm that the relationships are direct.This implies that male students on the average showed a higher negative negative perception on self-employment in agriculture.In likewise manner, respondents whose parents were employees also had higher negative perception.Also, there was a significant relationship between the students' gender, home background, father and mothers' occupation, the source of agricultural information as well as interest in agricultural business.This finding supports the ascertion by Mwiria (2005) that home backgrounds of students and parental influence contribute in determining the vocational choice of students.

Conclusion and Recommendations
The study concluded that the respondents held a high negative perception of self-employment in agriculture.This perception was associated with some identified socio-economic characteristics which could be used in enhancing a more positive perception among the respondents.The students' interests were also concentrated around poultry and fish farming at the expense of other equally profitable types of agricultural enterprises.The study also concluded that with the provision of motivational factors such as ready markets and delivery centres for agricultural produce, start-up capital and access to Land, educated youths in Nigeria would embrace self-employment in agriculture.Based on these findings, it is recommended that; 1.A good marketing system should be developed for agricultural produce.Availability of ready market and delivery centres for agricultural produce can encourage more youths to venture into agriculture 2. Efforts should be made by the government in making agriculture attractive to the youths through media campaigns demystifying the negative myths about agriculture and presenting agriculture as a profitable venture.3.There should be a review of the country's education curricula that is oriented towards white collar employment.The curriculum should focus on self-reliance and self-employment.Agricultural entrepreneurship should be strongly integrated into the educational system from primary level.

Table 1 .
Distribution of the Respondents according to their Socio-economic Characteristics

Table 2 .
Distribution of Respondents based on their Perception of Agricultural Ventures

Table 3 .
Percentage Distribution of Respondents based on Preferred Agricultural Enterprises

Table 4 .
Distribution of Respondents by the Factors Which Motivate them towards Agricultural Entrepreneurship

Table 5 .
Relationship between Respondents' Socio-economic Background and their Perception on Selfemployment in Agricultural Enterprises