Despite various initiatives and investments in youth entrepreneurship and start-ups, youth participation in agribusiness has not significantly increased. Therefore, this study analyzed the perceived effects of entrepreneurial traits on youth’s willingness to exploit agribusiness opportunities in Nigeria. A total of 3600 respondents were randomly selected across Nigeria using an online well-structured questionnaire. The data were analyzed using a binomial logistic regression among other tools. The study found that, although only 17% of the respondents were exploiting agribusiness opportunities as of 2020, about 77% of the respondents were willing to exploit agribusiness opportunities in the next 2 years. The study found that entrepreneurial traits had no significant influence on youth’s willingness to exploit agribusiness opportunities until each of the traits was moderated by an individual’s entrepreneurial intention. The implications of the findings are discussed in the study.

The growing demand for cassava and its products has continued to stretch the supply of cassava globally. Nigeria is a leading producer of cassava in the world yet, there are concerns that if appropriate policy strategies are not adopted to increase production, the current fragile situation of food insecurity in Nigeria may be worsened. Besides the increasing number of gigantic cassava-based industries spring up in Nigeria, the rapidly growing population of consumers is another factor that may further disrupt the relatively stable cassava market in Nigeria in the future. Therefore, “ceteris paribus”, the study determined the appropriate quantitative models to forecast the trends in cassava production indictors in Nigeria. Using the historical series (1961 – 2018), 12-year period (2019 -2030) forecasts were made for each of the production indicators as follows: 106 million tonnes (production output), 7.7 tonnes/ha (yield) and 9.6 million hectares (cropped area) in 2030. The study extrapolated the expected food supply from the expected production output in the forecast period using the 2014 FAO estimates of food supply per caput. Thus, in 2030, cassava food supply per caput was found to decline from 267 Kcal/capita/day in 2014 to 239 Kcal/capita/day. The study concludes that despite keeping the future demand of the growing cassava-based industries constant, cassava production is expected to continually increase but future food supply per caput would decline. However, the growing cassava-based industries globally is expected to hugely influence the future cassava market dynamics.

This study examined agripreneurial intentions among students in the state-owned tertiary institutions in Ondo State. The study profiled students’ perceptions of learning (SPOL), teachers’ impact (SPOT), and mentorship and explored the effects of these on their agripreneurial intentions. Both descriptive and inferential statistics were used to analyze 120 students, who were randomly selected from the two state-owned tertiary institutions. A logistic regression analysis was performed to assess the effects of SPOL, SPOT, mentorship, as well as other socioeconomic characteristics, on students’ likelihood to have agripreneurial intentions. The study revealed that SPOL, SPOT & age significantly increased the likelihood of students having agripreneurial intentions, while perceptions of mentorship and the number of graduates in the family decreased it. Although the SPOL and SPOT were positive and statistically significant, the weak effects of the mean scores suggest that SPOL and SPOT should be improved upon to enhance students’ interest in agripreneurship.

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The study evaluated the economic analysis of cassava production in Akoko area of Ondo State, Nigeria. Data were collected using a well-structured questionnaire and interview schedule. Descriptive statistics, budgetary techniques and multiple regression model were employed for the data analysis. The results showed that the majority (72.7%) of cassava farmers were male households and they were within the active age group given a mean of 50years with a mean household size of 5 persons. About 80.7% of the farmers were married and had an average farming experience of 13years while about 82.0% of them had formal education. The cassava farmers had an average farm size of 1.9ha and many (62.7%) of them started their farming business with their personal income. The results of budgetary analysis revealed that the net farm income was ₦149,101.92 with the return on investment of ₦1.5. This implies that for every N1 invested in the business, there is a return of 50k. The result of the multiple linear regression showed that agrochemical, labour, farm input, and age were the major factors that had a significant influence on the profit of the cassava farmers. Again, inadequate capital for start-up, unstable price, and high cost of inputs were the main constraints faced by the farmers in the area. From the findings, there is a need for the cassava farmers in the study area to form a cassava farmer corporative to solve problems of accessibility to loan, resource allocation, dissemination of information and other challenges as this will increase their productivity and output.

Cassava is an important food crop in Nigeria providing households food security and income. Cassava production has received government and stakeholders’ intervention dating back to the 1970s. Nevertheless, increased and sustainable production of the crop is under threat by exogenous factors of climate change and variability. This study investigates this concern by assessing the effects of climate change on cassava output in Ondo state, Nigerian using Co-integration and Error-Correction Modelling (ECM). Time series (1971-2010) data were sourced from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) Abuja, Nigerian Meteorological Agency Oshodi, Lagos. The results of the Augmented Dickey-Fuller (ADF) test revealed that all variables (cassava yield and climate variables; rainfall, temperature, and relative humidity) all have unit root problems (non-stationary) but become stationary after the first difference 1(1). The results confirmed a long-run equilibrium relationship between all identified variables as the absolute values of the variables are greater than their critical values at a 5% level of significance for both trace statistics and maximal-eigen values. The ECM result shows that rainfall exerts a positive effect, while temperature and relative humidity exert negative effects on cassava production. This indicates the sensitivity of cassava to climate change in the study area. Thus, increased and sustained production of cassava for household’s food security income would be attainable by designing programmes and policies geared toward reducing the effect of climate change. Keywords: Co-integration, Error-Correction Modeling, Cassava Output, Climate Variability, Nigeria.

Cocoa has remained a valuable crop and major foreign exchange earner among other agricultural commodity export of the Nigerian economy. Therefore, the study evaluates the effect of credit services and socioeconomic factors on the income of cocoa marketers in Ondo State, Nigeria. Primary data were used with the aid of a well-structured questionnaire. A multistage sampling technique was used to select 120 cocoa marketers. Descriptive statistics, budgetary technique and Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) were used for the analysis. The costs and returns analysis reveal that the net marketing income for the average cocoa marketer was ₦8,560,344 per annum while the total revenue of an average cocoa marketer was ₦20,716,187 per annum. The marketing efficiency ratio is 70.4 while the return on investment (ROI) is estimated to be 1.7. That is out of every ₦1 invested, the average marketer made a profit of ₦1 and 7 kobo. The results of OLS revealed that transportation, credit size, credit source, and credit duration were the main determinants marketers’ income in the area. Lack of collaterals and poor financial management skills are the main constraints faced by the marketers. Thus, it is recommended that credit should be provided for cocoa marketers with moderate collateral requirement and interest rate in order to give each and every cocoa marketer the chance to expand their scale of operations.

The research assessed farmers of arable crops in Akoko southwest local government area of Ondo State, Nigeria on their adaptation strategies to perceived climatic unpredictability. Using a multistage sampling, cross-sectional data were collected from 150 farmers in rural areas of all the local governments using a standardized questionnaire. Descriptive and inferential statistics including chi-square, Pearson Product Moment Correlation (PPMC), and Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) were utilized to analyses the study's data. The study revealed a significant relationship between household size (χ2=179.3, p<0.05), farm size (χ2=136.4, p<0.05) and adaptation strategies. Also, there was a significant influence of gender (t=3.001), access to credit (t=2.459), and other sources of income (t=2.384) on adaptation strategies to be adopted by farmers at p<0.05. The findings indicate that the farmers are severely constrained by a lack of suitable irrigation infrastructure and insufficient government support, which has decreased production and may result in lower profits and more poverty. According to the results, farmers' perceptions of climatic unpredictability have a significant impact on their adaptation techniques. A better understanding of climatic variability would help farmers develop better adaptation strategies, which will enhance their livelihoods and lower poverty levels in rural regions. The government should launch awareness and sensitization programmers at all levels to create a community where farmers are well-versed in the causes and impacts of climatic variability.