Youth Employment and Wealth Creation through Agricultural Entrepreneurship: The Delta State Model as Evidential Case for Paradigm Shift

This paper demonstrates with live evidence from Delta State, Nigeria, that conventional theorems indicating youths are not interested in agricultural occupation is yielding to the paradigm shift towards youth agricultural entrepreneurship models underpinned by key enablers and drivers. The paper gives extensive review of anecdotal literature and empirical research about the necessity, relevance, approaches and potential impacts of mainstreaming and targeting youths in agricultural policy and programme design. The paradigm shift is corroborated by field evidence from the Delta State Youth Agricultural Entrepreneurship Programme (YAGEP) which gives empirical proof of critical enablers and drivers of youth agricultural entrepreneurship. An array of factors comprising holistic training, branding and mentoring, start-up support, sustainable cost-subsidized access to technologies, inputs, finance and information in tandem with market guarantee and risk mitigation work to ensure the survival, profitability and sustainability of the agricultural enterprise. By its successes, lessons and insights, YAGEP typifiesa role model in the deployment of youth agricultural entrepreneurship for curbing youth unemployment, developing the agricultural value chain and promoting economic diversification