Building capacity of rural youth and extension workers in agriculture as a business: evidence from a field experiment in Malawi

Highfill, Ryan Joseph

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Description

Title

Building capacity of rural youth and extension workers in agriculture as a business: evidence from a field experiment in Malawi

Author(s)

Highfill, Ryan Joseph

Issue Date

2017-06-16

Director of Research (if dissertation) or Advisor (if thesis)

McNamara, Paul E.

Committee Member(s)

• Ellison, Brenna
• Crost, Benjamin

Department of Study

Agr & Consumer Economics

Discipline

Agricultural & Applied Econ

Degree Granting Institution

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Degree Name

M.S.

Degree Level

Thesis

Keyword(s)

• Extension
• Malawi
• Agribusiness

Abstract

This thesis examines the effects of agri-business entrepreneurship training on the business skills, entrepreneurial propensity, and expected wages of youth in rural Malawi. Historically, the role of youth in agriculture in Sub-Saharan Africa has been severely limited due to a variety of political, social, and economic factors. In general, youth have limited access to land, capital, political influence, and agricultural inputs, which are often controlled by governments, private industry, or village elders. This project implemented a learning program in the East Lilongwe district testing the effects of a 10 week agricultural entrepreneurship course that attempted to equip youth with the skills necessary to start a low cost business. Participants were selected in groups at the village level, and by completion of the course expected to have formed a semi-formal business plan. Increasing rural youth’s entrepreneurial knowledge and expectations about the viability and wages of agricultural employment will be a crucial factor in incentivizing extension systems to adopt sustainable training practices as a means of advisory service.

Graduation Semester

2017-08

Type of Resource

text

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http://hdl.handle.net/2142/98168

Copyright and License Information

Copyright 2017 Ryan Highfill

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