Youth in Agriculture: An in-depth review on the attraction farming has on youths in the evolution of Nigerian economy Part I

Introduction

The Federal Republic of Nigeria commonly referred to as Nigeria, is a Federal Constitutional Republic in West Africa with a growing population of over 198 million people and it is popularly termed as the “Giant of Africa” in terms of resources and growth rate. The country has a long history of agricultural exploits before the discovery of crude oil which drastically shifted away people’s interest from agriculture, and this is the genesis of our problem in this country.

The Nigerian National Youth Policy (2009) defines youth as between 18 and 35 years. Whereas according to United Nation’s General Assembly, Youth are the persons falling between the ages of 15 and 24 years.

Passion and interest are two interrelated conditions of having concern, emotion and feelings for something. Findings has indicated that most youths have no passion for farming. They rather develop what is called “quick money mentality” that generates from the fat renumeration in the oil and gas sector of the economy; and which injects impatience against long-term investment like the agribusiness.

It has been discovered that farming activities were perceived as a job for the low class, illiterates, aged, and rural people and therefore belittling. Hence, no matter the efforts/incentives attached to the empowerment programs to attract youths, a handful of them still belief that, participation in such program is derogatory.

Youths are the essential resources for every nation, especially for sustaining agricultural productivity as an important sector for nation building. Unfortunately, this category of people is virtually left out in policies and program considerations even though this is a critical stage for this group of people for transition into adulthood. The unemployment rate of this group globally ranked 12.6% compared with 4.8% as the rate of the adults in 2010 and this has the possibility of tempting most youth to embark on migration especially to urban centers and beyond since this act creates opportunities for accessing job opportunities. Agriculture being one of the foundation pillars of any society can only function as such if this insufficient youth participation is reversed. For instance, improving youth productivity in the agricultural sector and exploring effective livelihood diversification is imperative. Also, investing in the youth by promoting good habits is crucial if they are to realize their full potential. Involvement of youth in agricultural activities has the potential of reducing the problems of the ageing farm population and decreasing youth unemployment and this calls for securing the interest and participation of young people in agriculture in the form of a deliberate shift in policy, training and promotion that specially targets the youth.

This category of people is not only the productive backbone of every society, the major source of ideas and innovation, but also the main market for food consumption and very often the leaders and drivers of public opinion, public policy and action. As a result of this, this lecture tends to teach us the attraction farming has on youths in the evolution of Nigerian economy. However, this paper recommends that: Youth’s organization example, young farmers clubs, should be encouraged and strengthened in some African states in order to obtain moral education and material assistance needed for agricultural transformation. There is the need for all well to do persons to support the youth in participating actively in agricultural production and to help them prevent those major factors that militates against their participation. Youth should be deeply involved in policy formulation; to this end, the youth should be encouraged to voice their constraints in relation to livelihood and also come together to form cooperatives for the purpose of sourcing loans for establishing farms. The image of agriculture as a dirty enterprise and a non-professional course as regarded by other professionals and laborious work with little returns must be changed, so that youth should be seeing agriculture as an inspirational career choice for Nigerian youth.

Agriculture remains fundamental to poverty reduction and economic growth in the 21st Century (World Bank, 2008). However, 75% of the world’s poor are from rural areas and most are involved in farming, an activity which requires sustenance especially by the youth who are the leaders of tomorrow.

Agriculture in Nigerian is beset by a host of challenges such as lack of adequate farming equipment, lack of social amenities, illiteracy among farmers, lack of access to agricultural loan, loss of land to natural disaster, market access, climate change, low fertilizer usage, and inadequate storage and processing facilities. Nigeria has an exceptional population profile, according to the 2017 revision of the World population prospects the total population was 185,989,640 in 2016, compared to only 37,860,000 in 1950. The population of children under the age of 15 in 2010 was 44.0%, 53.2% were between 15 and 65 years of age, while 2.7% were 65 years or older. The large youth population in Nigeria should be seen as an asset for the country’s development if appropriate human capital investment measures are taken. Youth participation in agriculture is thus beneficial to mankind both directly and indirectly. It will provide under- and un-employed young people with employment and income, and this in turn will provide the food we need via increased production, and ensures farming is passed from one generation to the next. Indirectly, it will drastically reduce the criminal and illegal activities youth may indulge in due to lack of gainful employment.

Youth are very important resources for every nation, especially for sustaining agricultural productivity and an important sector for development. Youth can be stakeholders in the development process, especially in view of the great assets of youth, resilience, resourcefulness and perseverance. Unfortunately, this category of people is virtually left out in policies and program considerations even though this is a critical stage for this group of people for transition into adulthood. For instance, the unemployment rate of this group globally ranked 12.6% compared with 4.8% as the rate for adults in 2010 and this has the potential of tempting most youth to embark on migration especially to urban centers and beyond since this act creates room for accessing job opportunities. This group of people account for over 1.8 billion people in the world today, 90% of whom live in developing countries, where they tend to make up a large proportion of the population and need to be empowered since this is an important means of improving food security, youth livelihoods and employment. Agriculture being one of the foundation pillars of any society can only function as such if this insufficient youth participation is reversed. For instance, improving youth productivity in the agricultural sector and exploring effective livelihood diversification is imperative. Also, investing in the youth by promoting good habits is crucial if they are to realize their full potential. This is in view of the fact that the number and proportion of the older persons is growing faster than any other age group.

This category of people is the driving force behind economic prosperity in future decades, only if policies and programmes are in place to enhance their opportunities. According to Dr Namanga Ngogi, President of Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA), 60% of Africa’s population resides in rural areas and the large majority of this population is made up of youth. However, the poor participation of this group of young people in farming is a threat to the future of agriculture and rural economic transformation on the continent. Therefore, for youth to be accommodating, agriculture should be subsidized in various forms to make it attractive to young farmers and the likes of students. There is no subsidy that agriculture cannot accommodate because every human being whether poor or rich eats food and every citizen is a stakeholder in agriculture. Everybody is a direct beneficiary of any kind of subsidy on agriculture. Therefore, whatever affects agriculture indirectly affects all directly. Agriculture is for all, because it had no class distinction, everybody regardless of social status eats food on a daily basis. It on this premise that this lecture was ‘incubated’ and ‘hatched’ to survey on the attraction farming has on the youths in the evolution of Nigerian economy.