Examining the non-participation of some youth in agriculture in the midst of acute unemployment in Ghana
This article in the International Journal of Modern Social Sciences, sought to fill the knowledge gap by examining the puzzle of unemployed youth non-participation in agriculture in the Bawku Municipality, Ghana. There is a historic trend of growing unemployment problem in Ghana. The effect is even multiplied for graduates whose hope after school is to secure decent jobs to start their lives. The formal sector has proven over the years to be incapable of absorbing the existing job seekers and expectation is that these unemployed youth will like to grasp any legal and available job opportunity. In the contrary, it is amazing that these unemployed youth do not find it as a necessity to undertake agriculture as a source of livelihood in the midst of the acute unemployment. This study engaged the case study research design within a mixed research methodological paradigm to scrutinize the problem. Primary data was gathered from a sample of 200 unemployed youth respondents using questionnaires and from stakeholders using interview guides. The analysis revealed that the unemployed youth are not involved in agriculture because of lack of interest and passion for agriculture; they are busily looking for other ‘better’ jobs; historical losses by youth and family members in agriculture; land access challenges; and financial constraints. It was however identified that majority of the youth 144(72%) had plans of going into agriculture in the future. The study recommended that effort should be made to address the identified challenges and further participatory empirical research should be conducted on how to incite and sustain youth interest in agriculture.