Abstract

The study determined the involvement of youths in cattle rearing at the rural community level using six randomly selected communities in Oyo State in the South western part of Nigeria. Twenty – five youths were randomly selected from each of these communities and interviewed. The study found that 68% of the respondents who were involved in cattle rearing were males, 32% were females, while seventy three percent (73%) were between 21 and 30 years. The most significant finding of this study is that 16% of these youths possessed tertiary (that is, post secondary) education. These Nigerian youths perceived cattle rearing as labour - intensive, non - mechanized and unattractive. Chi - square analysis showed that there was no significant association between respondents’ age and cattle rearing (χ² = 5.935, P > 0.05) while there was significant association between respondents’ educational status and cattle rearing (χ² = 35.042, P < 0.050). In view of this, it is recommended that the state government should give maximum encouragement (in form of definitive cattle ranching and mechanization) to this small group of literate youths involved in cattle rearing and encourage more of such to remain in the business through motivational strategies.

Key words: Grass - root, youth involvement, cattle rearing, Southwestern Nigeria.