Effect of Socioeconomic Characteristics of Youth Farmers on the Rice Production Project in Ishielu Local Government Area of Ebonyi State, Nigeria

Abstract

The research focused on the effect of socioeconomic characteristics of youth farmers on the Rice Production Project in Ishielu local government area of Ebonyi State, Nigeria. Cluster purposive and random sampling techniques were employed in selecting 120 respondents. Data were collected from the respondents using a close-ended questionnaire. Data obtained were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics.  The result showed that about 43.3 percent of the participants were youths. The result further indicates that most of the participants (65.8%) were male with an average household size of 7. The Wald test result showed that the covariate and categorical variables that have a significant effect on the dependent variable were; age, non-farm income, household size, marital status (single), educational qualification (primary and secondary) and primary occupation (farming, civil and public services). The pseudo R² of Nagelkerke is 0.822, while the test of hypothesis showed that the chi-square statistics (352.902) is significant at 1% level of significance. Based on the findings, the study recommends that the government should employ the use of improved technology, machines and machineries should be used in the rice production project activities in the study area. This will encourage the young age youth who are graduates to option into the project actively.