Factors influencing involvement in agricultural livelihood activities among rural youth in Jabalpur district of Madhya Pradesh, India

Abstract

Many rural youth are faced with difficulty of maintaining livelihoods and consequently, poverty remains pervasive among them. The importance of income generating activities to rural livelihood cannot be over-emphasized. The paper examined the factors influencing involvement in agricultural livelihood activities among rural youth in Jabalpur district of Madhya, India. Multi stage random sampling was used to collect data from 247 respondents. Majority of respondents had high and medium mass media exposure and innovativeness respectively. There was significant relationship between involvement in agricultural income generating activities and socio-economic, psychological and communicational characteristics (R²=0.582). Marital status (t=6.066),  respondents’ education (t=-3.554), family size (t=-3.489) employment status (t=3.283), innovativeness (t=7.333), conservatism-liberalism (t=-4.107),  fatalism-scienticism (t=-4.828), mass media exposure (t=10.605), extension contact (t=4.230), socio-political participation (-3.839) and reasons for educational and vocational training (7.785) were predictors of agricultural income generating activities engaged by rural youth at 1 percent significant level while more than 1/3 of the total accountable variation was explained by mass media exposure. Governmental and non governmental organizations should take into consideration all agricultural income generating activities engaged in by rural youth as well as the above factors influencing their involvement when initiating and embarking on programmes targeted at improving their livelihoods.

Keywords: rural youth, livelihoods, agriculture, income generating activities