Factors affecting youth participation in agriculture in Mpigi District: a case of Nkozi Sub-county

Abstract

The study is to determine the factors affecting youth participation in agriculture in Mpigi district using a case study of Nkozi sub-county. With refrence from an online surveying platform (HURIFO Land Conflict Mapping Tool),detailed demography concerning population of the area of interest were obtained and the population was sparsely populated at 300 homesteads in Nkozi. The study will target a sample of 100 respondents both females and males selected using simple random sampling technique and Krejcie and Morgan's (1970) table for determining sample size from a given population shall be used to determine the sample size. The data collected was analyzed using STATA version 15.0 software. The quantitative analysis underwent univariate, bivariateanalysis stages. It was established that gender had a great influence about youth’s participation in Agriculture with females at 54% and men at 46%.A great majority of the youths (60%) interviewed agreed that initial capital requirement was a great hindrance to their participation in agriculture. Participation in agriculture undoubtedly requires heavy investment to benefit from its full potential, something the youths conceded to as a big hindrance to their participation. The government is thus recommended to set aside cheap capital in form of low interest loans to young people that would love to do agriculture. Large scale sensitization of modern agriculture is highly recommended; the shifting or the desire to shift agriculture from pure subsistence to partial or full scale commercial necessitates a great deal of public education of eco friendly agricultural practices, modern yield boasting activities and craftsmanship in using current technology in agriculture.