Contributions of Unemployed Youths to Agriculture in Sardauna Local Government Area of Taraba State, Nigeria

Abstract

The study assessed the contributions of unemployed youths to agriculture in Sardauna LGA of Taraba
State, Nigeria. The specific objectives focused on the socio-economic factors of the respondents,
examine the impact of agriculture to reducing unemployment syndrome and to identify the major
constraints of unemployment. Data were collected from 95 respondents using multistage random
sampling technique and analyzed by means of descriptive statistics, multiple regression analysis and chi
square. Results indicated that men (65.3%) were mostly affected by unemployment syndrome. Most
(50.5%) of the respondents had non-formal education and were single. Farming was the major occupation
of the respondents accounting for 75.8%. Chi-square result indicated significant impact of agriculture to
unemployment. Age of individuals, education and farm experience shows significant influence to
agriculture, therefore were considered strong determinants of unemployment to agriculture. These
factors exhibited positive relationship at 1% and 5% respectively. Constraints identified were inefficient
job opportunity, insufficient government assistance and high cost of agricultural inputs. It was
recommended that provision of improved agricultural inputs at subsidized rate and intensification of
research would improve the life of the unemployed youths in the study area.