Socioeconomic Determinants Influencing the Willingness of Agriculture Undergraduates to Participate in Agripreneurship in Northwest Nigeria

Abstract

The study analyzed the socioeconomic determinants influencing the willingness of the agriculture undergraduates to participate in agripreneurship in Northwest, Nigeria. The study employed a questionnaire to obtain primary data. A multistage sampling technique was used to select 150 respondents from the universities under study. Both descriptive and inferential statistics were used for data analysis. Results show that a majority of the participants were male (68.7%), single (90%), within 21-25 years of age (52.6%), and had no any other tangible occupation (57.3%) besides study. Willingness to participate in agripreneurship was found to be positive among the respondents but not as primary occupation. Family economic status (ranked first) was the major socioeconomic determinants influencing the willingness of agriculture undergraduates to participate in agripreneurship. Examination of the relationship between selected socioeconomic determinants and willingness to participate in agripreneurship revealed a positive significant relationship with gender, community background, family background, family economic status, as well as with ethnicity. This clearly suggests that a number of socioeconomic determinants have considerable influence over willingness of agriculture undergraduates to participate in agripreneurship. The study, then, carries the implication that university agriculture training should be streamlined with today's realities so as to stimulate the willingness for agripreneurship.