Youth and Farm Children as Invaluable Assets in Sustainable Agricultural Development

This paper reviewed the capacity and potentials of youth and farm children to sustaining agricultural development. Their knowledge, skills, attitude and behaviour when nurtured and utilized are invaluable assets in the implementation of sustainable agricultural programmes. Findings revealed that majority of agricultural policies/programmes formulated for youth do not consider challenges confronting their participation in agricultural development. Nigerian youth and farm children perceive agriculture as hard, back breaking, dirty jobs with very little self-esteem and a profession of drudgery. Because of this perception, they seek employment in other sectors of the economy in order to empower themselves economically and attain social prestige. The effect has left bulk of agricultural production in the hands of aged farmers who produce at subsistence level that cannot sustain their families. In view of this, Nigerian government has introduced numerous agricultural programmes such as Children in Agriculture Programme (CIAP), Youth Employment in Agricultural Programmes (YEAP), etc. which aimed at reducing poverty and better the standard of living. However, efforts made at reviewing agriculture through youth programmes have not yielded the desired results. The paper therefore recommends need assessment of youths before programme planning and implementation and capacity building through extension education programmes.