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Information and Communication Technologies (ICTS) for Youth Employment in Agribusiness in Ibadan

Received: 30 June 2019     Accepted: 24 July 2019     Published: 20 December 2019
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Abstract

Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) remain the viable solution to challenges faced in agriculture and agribusiness through innovations targeted to improve crop yield, value chain processes, and access to market information and creating employment opportunities in the process. In many developing countries especially Sub-Sahara Africa, minimal deployment of ICTs for agricultural production is seen and this has resulted to poor yield, low income for farmers and limited job opportunities. Although, majority of youths see agriculture and agribusiness as a sector not meant for them, this narrative could be changed if their skill and access to ICTs could be harnessed to contribute to the agricultural and agribusiness sector thereby providing real-time employment in the process. This study seeks to identify the levels of ICT skills of youth agripreneurs, investigate the ICT innovations currently being deployed and necessary to improve agribusiness, the extent of youth involvement and investigate dimensions to youth employment in agribusiness. Primary data were collected through an online survey and structured questionnaires. Young people currently involved in agribusiness were interviewed individually to gain insight on the current use of ICT and factors contributing to youth involvement were investigated. Data analysis was done using SPSS to draw inferences and develop policy briefs to provide insights into discoveries of the research and to encourage youth engagement in agribusiness and other rural economic activities. Findings suggest that ICT is currently being deployed for some agribusiness activities but on a very minimal scale. The main conclusion of the study is that in order to increase food security and provide job opportunities for young people, an increase in the uptake and deployment of ICT innovations for agribusiness needs to be encouraged.

Published in International Journal of Sustainable Development Research (Volume 5, Issue 4)
DOI 10.11648/j.ijsdr.20190504.11
Page(s) 91-97
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2019. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Information and Communication Technologies, Youth Employment, Agribusiness, ICT Innovations, Value Chain Processes

References
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[2] CTA and AYF (2015). Youth sustaining family farming through ICTs: Report of e-Debate Organised by the Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation ACP-EU (CTA), incollaboration with the African Youth Foundation (AYF), in the framework of the International Year of Family Farming (IYFF) 2014.
[3] Deloitte. (2012). eTransform Africa: Agriculture Sector Study: Sector Assessment and opportunities for ICT.
[4] GIZ (2014). “Use of ICT for Agriculture in GIZ projects - Status quo, opportunities and challenges”. Sector Network Rural Development Africa (SNRD).
[5] IICD. (2013). Youth, ICTs and Agriculture: Exploring how digital tools and skills influence the motivation of young farmers. International Institute for Communication and Development Publication November 2013. http://www.iicd.org/about/publications/ict4d-effects-youth-icts-and-agriculture.
[6] Kimani, M. (2012). Women struggle to secure land rights: Hard fight for access and decision making power. Africa Renewal Magazine Special Edition on Women. 2012. Pg. 37.
[7] Kimbowa, J. (2013). Blending agriculture and mobile phones. The Observer (Uganda). http://www.observer.ug/index.php?option=comcontent&view=article&id=28682:blending-agriculture-and-mobilephones&catid=79:businesstopstories&Itemid=68.
[8] Lohento, K. and Ajilore, O. D. (2015). ICT and Youth in Agriculture. Africa Agriculture Status Report, 2015. Chapter 5; p119-142. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/308968253.
[9] Maliene V, Grigonis V, Palevi‐ius V, Griffiths S. (2011). “Geographic information system: Old principles with new capabilities”. Urban Design International 16 (1). pp. 1–6. doi: 10.1057/udi.2010.25.
[10] Montpellier Report (2014). Small and growing entrepreneurship in African agriculture. Agriculture for Impact/Montpellier Panel Report June 2014.
[11] National Bureau of Statistics (2012). “Demographic distribution of Nigeria: By sector, geopolitical zone and climate”. NBS publication vol. 212. Pp 86.
[12] Pearson, L. (2012). Early warning of disasters: Facts and figures. SciDev Net. http://www.scidev.net/global/communication/feature/early-warning-of-disasters-facts-and-figures-1.html.
[13] Saginga, N. (2015). Youth in Agribusiness within an African Agricultural Transformation Agenda.
[14] Stamm, A, Jost, C, Kreiss, C, Meier, K, Pfister, M, Schukat, P and Speck, H. A. (2006). “Strengthening Value Chains in Sri Lanka’s Agribusiness”. German Development Institute.
[15] Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation ACP-EU (CTA) (2016). “Youth e-agriculture entrepreneurship”. ICT Update bi-monthly Magazine Issue 83.
[16] World Bank (2011). “ICT in Agriculture: Connecting Smallholder Farmers to Knowledge, Networks and Institution”. E-Source book Report Number 6460.
[17] Yeboah, E. (2014). Women’s land rights and Africa’s development conundrum – which way forward? IIED Blog. http://www.iied.org/womens-land-rights-africas-development-conundrum-which-way-forward.
Cite This Article
  • APA Style

    Stephen Ohuneni, Labode Popoola. (2019). Information and Communication Technologies (ICTS) for Youth Employment in Agribusiness in Ibadan. International Journal of Sustainable Development Research, 5(4), 91-97. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijsdr.20190504.11

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    ACS Style

    Stephen Ohuneni; Labode Popoola. Information and Communication Technologies (ICTS) for Youth Employment in Agribusiness in Ibadan. Int. J. Sustain. Dev. Res. 2019, 5(4), 91-97. doi: 10.11648/j.ijsdr.20190504.11

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    AMA Style

    Stephen Ohuneni, Labode Popoola. Information and Communication Technologies (ICTS) for Youth Employment in Agribusiness in Ibadan. Int J Sustain Dev Res. 2019;5(4):91-97. doi: 10.11648/j.ijsdr.20190504.11

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  • @article{10.11648/j.ijsdr.20190504.11,
      author = {Stephen Ohuneni and Labode Popoola},
      title = {Information and Communication Technologies (ICTS) for Youth Employment in Agribusiness in Ibadan},
      journal = {International Journal of Sustainable Development Research},
      volume = {5},
      number = {4},
      pages = {91-97},
      doi = {10.11648/j.ijsdr.20190504.11},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijsdr.20190504.11},
      eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ijsdr.20190504.11},
      abstract = {Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) remain the viable solution to challenges faced in agriculture and agribusiness through innovations targeted to improve crop yield, value chain processes, and access to market information and creating employment opportunities in the process. In many developing countries especially Sub-Sahara Africa, minimal deployment of ICTs for agricultural production is seen and this has resulted to poor yield, low income for farmers and limited job opportunities. Although, majority of youths see agriculture and agribusiness as a sector not meant for them, this narrative could be changed if their skill and access to ICTs could be harnessed to contribute to the agricultural and agribusiness sector thereby providing real-time employment in the process. This study seeks to identify the levels of ICT skills of youth agripreneurs, investigate the ICT innovations currently being deployed and necessary to improve agribusiness, the extent of youth involvement and investigate dimensions to youth employment in agribusiness. Primary data were collected through an online survey and structured questionnaires. Young people currently involved in agribusiness were interviewed individually to gain insight on the current use of ICT and factors contributing to youth involvement were investigated. Data analysis was done using SPSS to draw inferences and develop policy briefs to provide insights into discoveries of the research and to encourage youth engagement in agribusiness and other rural economic activities. Findings suggest that ICT is currently being deployed for some agribusiness activities but on a very minimal scale. The main conclusion of the study is that in order to increase food security and provide job opportunities for young people, an increase in the uptake and deployment of ICT innovations for agribusiness needs to be encouraged.},
     year = {2019}
    }
    

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    AB  - Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) remain the viable solution to challenges faced in agriculture and agribusiness through innovations targeted to improve crop yield, value chain processes, and access to market information and creating employment opportunities in the process. In many developing countries especially Sub-Sahara Africa, minimal deployment of ICTs for agricultural production is seen and this has resulted to poor yield, low income for farmers and limited job opportunities. Although, majority of youths see agriculture and agribusiness as a sector not meant for them, this narrative could be changed if their skill and access to ICTs could be harnessed to contribute to the agricultural and agribusiness sector thereby providing real-time employment in the process. This study seeks to identify the levels of ICT skills of youth agripreneurs, investigate the ICT innovations currently being deployed and necessary to improve agribusiness, the extent of youth involvement and investigate dimensions to youth employment in agribusiness. Primary data were collected through an online survey and structured questionnaires. Young people currently involved in agribusiness were interviewed individually to gain insight on the current use of ICT and factors contributing to youth involvement were investigated. Data analysis was done using SPSS to draw inferences and develop policy briefs to provide insights into discoveries of the research and to encourage youth engagement in agribusiness and other rural economic activities. Findings suggest that ICT is currently being deployed for some agribusiness activities but on a very minimal scale. The main conclusion of the study is that in order to increase food security and provide job opportunities for young people, an increase in the uptake and deployment of ICT innovations for agribusiness needs to be encouraged.
    VL  - 5
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Author Information
  • Centre for Sustainable Development (CESDEV), University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Nigeria

  • Department of Forest Economics & Centre for Sustainable Development University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Nigeria

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