Examining Youth Engagement In Agripreneurship Opportunities As A Means Of Sustainable Livelihoods In Mining Communities In The Birim North District Of Ghana

Abstract

This study examines youth engagement in agripreneurship opportunities (AOs) as a means of attaining sustainable livelihoods in the Birim North District of Ghana. The study's specific objectives are to identify AOs that may be exploited as sources of employment and income generation, as well as to evaluate the socio-economic factors that impact youth's decision to engage in AOs and identify the constraints facing agripreneurs in the study area. By adopting the multi-stage sampling technique, a total of 220 youth were sampled from six different communities. Both qualitative and quantitative methods were used for the analysis. By employing the Likert scale technique, the most important AOs were identified. The binary logistic regression analysis was used to identify the socio-economic factors that influence the youth's decision to engage in AOs. To identify and rank the constraints faced by agripreneurs in the research area, Kendall's Coefficient of Concordance was utilized. The Likert scale analysis found twelve AOs, with livestock and speculative agripreneurship businesses like palm oil and grains aggregation dominating. The binary logistic regression analysis revealed that the most important socio-economic characteristics that positively influenced the youth's decision to engage in AOs were sex, employment status, and educational level. The most pressing constraints facing agripreneurs in the study area include lack of financial support, high inputs prices, and inadequate storage facilities for palm oil and grains. The study concludes that males who are employed and highly educated are more likely to engage in agripreneurship opportunities than their counterparts, though venturing into them is constrained by lack of financial support, high inputs prices and inadequate storage facilities. Based on the findings, the study recommends that any programme aimed at encouraging the youth in the Birim North District (BND) to engage in AOs should target livestock production enterprises and trading in grains and palm oil aggregation. Female participation, employment, and education are key components that need to be encouraged by policymakers to stimulate the adoption of agripreneurship. The financial institutions should create more avenues that enable the youth agripreneurs to access funds to support their agripreneurship venture. This could be done by designing a financial package with flexible terms of repayment for the youth agripreneurs in the BND. The government should continue to provide subsidies on farm inputs (seeds, fertilizers, weedicides, pesticides, etc.) and extend them to reach the youth in the BND. This will reduce the burden of purchasing inputs at high prices by the youth and increase their participation in AOs.