Abstract:
Worldwide, young people and mainly the rural youth face challenges in trying to earn a livelihood, yet agriculture offers a lot of opportunities for investment and their livelihood. Malawi economy is predominantly agricultural. Young people form more than 50 per cent of the country’s population. Despite the Malawi government efforts to enhance youth participation in the agriculture sector through policy support, only few youths participate actively in this sector. This study sought to determine the influence of selected factors on participation of rural youth in agriculture in Balaka District, Malawi. The factors that were examined include: age, sex, marital status, education level, occupation, rural youth’s perceptions towards agriculture, awareness of investment opportunities in agriculture, access to finances and credit, land, markets, knowledge and information, and alternative jobs. The study employed the cross-sectional survey design. Proportionate stratified sampling technique was used to attain a sample size of 196 rural youth respondents and 4 key informants. A researcher administered questionnaire and key informant questionnaire were administered. Reliability of the instrument was determined using Cronbach’s Alpha Reliability Coefficient whose value was found to be 0.81. The collected data was analysed using both quantitative and qualitative methods. The inferences were derived using the Pearson product-moment correlation and multiple linear regression models at 95% confidence level. The study findings indicate that participation of rural youth in agriculture is very weak with a majority participating as primary producers. Factors that include: age (p=0.000), marital status (p=0.000), education level (p=0.010), occupation (p=0.000), awareness of investment opportunities (p= .033), perceptions (p= .010), access to land (p=0.000), access to markets (p=0.000) and access to alternative jobs and income (p=0.017) have significant influence on participation of rural youth in agriculture. From the study findings it was concluded that demographic and socio-economic factors significantly influence participation of rural youth in agriculture in Balaka District of Malawi. The researcher recommends that Government of Malawi could consider introducing youth specific agricultural interventions, set up a youth desk office to engage rural youth in agricultural policy processes, institute an agricultural development fund for rural youth and an agri-preneurial training facility for rural youth. Malawi Extension and Advisory Services Strategy Paper could also include rural youth development in agriculture as one of its priority areas.
