Unlocking the Potential of Agribusiness in Africa through Youth Participation: An Impact Evaluation of N-Power Agro Empowerment Program in Nigeria

In a country of about 200 million people, the government has over the years constituted various initiatives to address the issue of unemployment, food security, and youth involvement in agriculture. However, the impact of these initiatives has been minimal due to the inconsistency in government policies, changes in government, inadequate implementation mechanism amongst others. This study, therefore, evaluated the impact of the N-power Agro Program on youth employment and income generation through agribusiness in Nigeria. Six hundred and forty-five respondents were randomly selected from the database of N-Power. Structured questionnaires were used in obtaining the data. The statistical analysis of collected data applied descriptive methods, logistic regression model, and regression discontinuity design. The value of ATE of the regression discontinuity design of the income of the participants of N-Power Agro is greater by N30,191.46 than for the nonparticipants. The result of the logistic regression model shows that age, level of education, years of agribusiness experience, and employment status significantly influenced the choice of creating employment through agribusiness and of participating in the N-Power Agro program. The impact of the N-Power Agro program for Nigeria’s young men and women on employment and income generation for participants was shown to be effective and positive with the RDD recording an increase in the beneficiaries’ income and a discontinuity in the design. Upscaling this program and wider implementation in other countries in collaborations with youth, rural communities and private sectors will ensure that the government can bridge the skills deficit in Africa’s youth, develop their capacities for entrepreneurship, and hence, increase jobs creation

Farmers' willingness to pay towards the sustainability of plant clinics: Evidence from Bangladesh, Rwanda and Zambia

Fee-based agricultural extension programmes have been proposed in response to the constraints of funding public extension services. This has piqued researchers' interest in determining farmers' willingness to pay (WTP) for extension services in recent decades. The current study examines farmers' WTP to ensure the sustainability of plant clinics. Smallholder farmers in over 30 countries benefit from this demand-driven extension method, which delivers plant health diagnostic and consulting services. External funders are now paying the plant clinic operations, which raises worries about their long-term viability if the funding stops. We used survey data from 602, 637, and 837 households in Bangladesh, Rwanda, and Zambia. We discovered that roughly 64% of the sample farmers were willing to pay an amount sufficient to cover the operational costs of an established plant clinic using the iterative bidding technique of eliciting WTP. Farmers in Bangladesh, Rwanda, and Zambia were willing to spend an average of 0.27USD, 0.85USD, and 2.25USD per visit to plant clinics. According to our findings, farmers appear to value the plant clinic extension method and are eager to contribute to its long-term viability. Therefore, piloting fee-paying plant clinic services to determine farmers' actual WTP and preferred payment options would be beneficial