Abstract

The study was conducted to examine the determinants of agriculture participation among tertiary institutions youth in Ghana. The study first, examined what factors influences youth decision to participate in agriculture activities and second, the intensity of participation of those youths who are participating in agriculture. A multi-stage sampling procedure was used to select respondents for the study. Data collected were analyzed with the aid of descriptive and double hurdle model (DHM). Though farming comes with a lot of benefits to a nation but the result of this study reveals that majority of the youth, 315 compared to their counterparts 135, decided not to engage in farming. The findings of this research also discovered that, youth perception of farm input price, youth level of education, access to credit, access land and youth course of study at the tertiary institution, gender composition of the youth, and youth perception of farm income significantly affect decision and the intensity to engage in farming. Furthermore, insufficient capital, high cost of farm input, poor storage facility, farmers are not respected, poor income generating and inadequate credit facility are some of the constraints of youth participation in farming.

Key words: Ghana, youth, farming, double-hurdle model, participation.