Özet:

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 seventy-two 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.

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