Globally, agriculture plays a vital role not only in creating opportunities for employment, but also in combating food insecurity, hunger, and poverty, especially in the global south. Agriculture is central to Africa’s economic development and poverty reduction drive (Shimeles, Verdier-chouchane, & Boly, 2018). Growth in the agricultural sector serves as the stimulus for improving the livelihoods of most rural people (IFAD, 2010). Its multiplier effects can help drive growth in non-farm industries (Meijerink & Roza, 2007). The agricultural sector employs most of the rural poor people, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa, where the industry employs an average of 54% of the economically active population (International Labour Organisation (ILO), as quoted in Shimeles et al., 2018). The agricultural sector constitutes an average of over 10% share of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in most African economies, with some of the countries such as Comoros, Burundi, Burkina Faso, Rwanda and Togo having a percentage as high as 30-40% in the last decade though with a downward trend in recent times (Tomšík, Smutka, Lubanda, & Rohn, 2015). The current GDP contribution of about 15% of the economy of most African countries underscores the reality of the agricultural sector downward trend in the continent (Shimeles et al., 2018).
The United Nations (UN) estimates that the global population will increase by nearly 9 billion people in 2050, with the bulk of the growth projected to concentrate in Africa (FAO, 2018b; FAO, CTA, & IFAD, 2014). The thrust of the population explosion will be among the youth, who are predicted to constitute about 14% of the total population (FAO et al., 2014). With the increasing population comes the challenge of meeting global food demand, especially in developing countries. For instance, global food production will need to increase by at least 70% to feed the world adequately by 2050 (IFAD, 2010). The increasing demand for food can potentially exacerbate the severe food insecurity condition in almost all the sub-regions of Africa if adequate measures are not put in place to stem the tide by the authorities concerned. About one-ninth of the African population experience chronic hunger and malnutrition despite the vast agricultural potentials and natural endowment of arable land in the continent (FAO, IFAD, UNICEF, WFP, & WHO, 2018).
Despite the enormous transformation potentials of the agricultural sector as the engine of the African economy, its contributions to the growth and development of the continent remains an illusion owning to varieties of issues ranging from ageing farming population, gender disparity, low investment and the problem of climate change worsened by excessive reliance on rain-fed agriculture, resulting in the decline in productivity (Kanu, Salami, & Numasawa, 2014; Shimeles et al., 2018).
Furthermore, the predicted increase in population also poses a significant threat to the challenge of unemployment, particularly in rural areas of developing countries where youths are most vulnerable and affected by poverty (FAO, 2018a). Projections are that about 330 million young people will enter the labour market in SSA by 2025, two-thirds of whom will live mainly in rural areas (Losch, 2012). The problem of unemployment appears more precarious for young people and rural dwellers compared to adults and urban counterparts (FAO, 2018a). Most of the rural youth are either unemployed or under unemployed in the informal sector, where the remunerations are extremely low, coupled with poor operational working conditions (FAO, 2018a). The challenges and vulnerabilities of rural youth to the menace of underemployment and unemployment appear worse for young women. Failure to productively engage the increasing number of job seekers may result in deviant behaviors such as adolescent pregnancy, drug abuse, political thuggery and increased crime rate in the society (Losch, 2012)
Like many Sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries, Zambia still suffers from the menace of unemployment and food insecurity, particularly among young people. According to the 2017 survey by the Central Statistics Office, the unemployment rate in Zambia stands between 45.5% and 51.1% (CSO, as quoted in Machina, Namonje-kapembwa, & Kasoma, 2018). The challenge of unemployment in Zambia appears more severe for female youth and rural dwellers. For example, the youth combined rate of unemployment and the potential labour force was at 45.6% and 59.7% for males and females, respectively, while the rural areas had 65.1 percent ratings compared to urban areas at 40.8% (LSF, 2019).
Zambia, like other African sub-regions, remains susceptible to the vagaries of global warming owing to the over-reliance of rain-fed agriculture. And as such, the Southern African country is also affected by the problem of food insecurity ravaging the continent (Mukuka Mofya-Rhoda, Alefa, & Mwanamwenge, 2019; Mulenga, Mulako, & Anthony, 2019). Approximately 50 percent of the rural household in Zambia are confronted with the challenge of seasonal food insecurity (Mofya & Mofya-mukuka, 2018).
Agriculture is considered by many as an essential sector capable of resolving the overwhelming rate of youth unemployment and tackling the problem of food insecurity if adequately harnessed (FAO et al., 2014; Moitui, 2019). Despite the enormous income-generating livelihood potentials that the industry offers, the literature points to the disinterest of young people into farming. The prevailing narrative of the aspirations of youth in agriculture in developing countries is the widespread reluctance to consider farming a viable employment option and a dominant preference for scarce white-collar jobs and urban life (Leavy & Hossain, 2014; Leavy & Smith, 2010b; Sumberg, Yeboah, Flynn, & Anyidoho, 2017; White, 2012).
Nevertheless, some recent research findings contrast sharply with the common perception that rural young people are opposed to farming. Daum (2018), found that rural youth had very diverse opinions and expectations as they mostly reflected on the positive and downsides of agriculture in a study conducted in Zambia to explore the aspirations and attitudes of young people in farming.
Interestingly, Anyidoho, Leavy, & Asenso-Okyere (2012) found that despite the preference of young people for white-collar jobs, some still desire to diversify their income by investing heavily in large-scale commercial cocoa farming. Sergo (2014) made a similar discovery in a study conducted in the East Gojjam region of Ethiopia where a significant proportion of the youth, despite their preference for non-agricultural livelihood, expressed optimism of participating in agriculture in the future if the conditions are favourable enough.
An essential characteristic of studies on the participation of young people in farming often neglected is the gender dimension. Gender relates to a socio-economic and cultural construct that makes it possible to distinguish between the roles, responsibilities, constraints, opportunities, and needs of men and women within a specific context (Laurila & Young, 2001). These social relations between young men and women influence, to a large extent, the opportunities available to them (Pereznieto et al., 2018; Pyburn, Audet-bélanger, Sabdiyo, Gabriela, & Ingrid, 2015). Both male and female youth are most affected by incidences of unemployment, education, and lack of access to productive resources. However, young girls are probably the most vulnerable and marginalized group owning to social and structural infractions prevalent in most developing societies (FAO, 2018a). These social and cultural norms often prevent adolescents, especially young girls, from accessing productive resources such as arable land, livestock for active participation in farming. For example, a study on youth employment in agriculture conducted in Zambia found the probability of a male youth being employed in agriculture to be 6.5 percentage points higher than their female-youth counterparts (Chapoto, Sambo, & Machina, 2019). Overcoming the gendered structural and social barriers that limit the livelihood opportunities available for youths, especially in agriculture, can help enhance food security through increased agricultural productivity.