Youth Involvement in Sweet Potato Production in Abia State, Nigeria

Abstract

The study investigated youth involvement in sweet potato production in Abia State, Nigeria. The study made use of a multi-stage procedure in selecting 120 youth. Primary data were collected with a structured questionnaire and analysed with frequency, mean count, standard deviation and multiple regression. The results revealed that the average yield produced was 117.42kg of potato tubers which is equivalent to N46,968.00. A grand mean of 3.20 affirmed that the youths were highly involved in sweet potato production. Some of the constraints militating against youth involvement in potato production were poor motivation (100.0%), poor access to credit (100.0%), and poor access to information from extension agents (100.0%), amongst others. Education (5%), house size (5%), farming experience (5%), and income (5%) significantly influenced the level of youth involvement in sweet potato production. Youth were highly involved in potato production. The government through the Central Bank of Nigeria should ensure yout