FINANCING AGRICULTURE AS A TOOL FOR REDUCTION OF YOUTH UNEMPLOYMENT IN PLATEAU STATE, NIGERIA

Agriculture has been the main stay of the Nigerian economy before the discovery of oil. The sector is crucial in providing food security, income, foreign exchange and employment, especially to the youth. With the dwindling oil price, there is need to revamp agriculture. The study examines the financing of agriculture as a tool for reduction of youth unemployment in Plateau State, Nigeria. The objective of the study is to assess how financing agriculture will attract youths into participation in agricultural activities to serve as sources of job creation. Primary and secondary data were used for the study. The validity and reliability tests were conducted after which, one hundred and seventy copies of Questionnaire were administered, ten each to the seventeen Local Government Areas of the state, out of which, fifteen were not useable. Secondary data were sourced from Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), World Bank, National Population Commission (NPC), Plateau Agricultural Development Programme (PADP), Agricultural Services Training Centre (ASTC), and academic Journals. The study employs the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS), for testing and analyzing of data. The findings show that there is positive relationship between financing agriculture and youth participation in agricultural activities in Plateau State. In addition, Plateau State Government has contributed to financing of agriculture to attract youths’ participation, but was not enough. The study recommends for the following, in order to attract Plateau state youths into participation in agriculture, to serve as source of employment: Provision for inputs, modern agricultural machinery and equipment, capital, training, infrastructural facilities, improved seeds and seedlings, storage facilities, security against herdsmen and regulating the prices of agricultural products