Socio-Economic Determinants of Entrepreneurship Decision among Yam Agribusiness Entrepreneurs in Benue State, Nigeria.

Abstract

Abstract-The

Investment decision and level of investment in marketing of value-added products of yam and cassava in Benue State, Nigeria

“…The positive sign of the coefficient conforms to the a priori expectation, implying that if a marketer is a male, his level of investment in the marketing of value-added products of cassava increases by ₦11,566.36. Male agripreneurs usually have opportunity for investment capital translating to more investment compared to their female counterparts (Okeke et al, 2015). This is congruent with the finding of Mutinda et al (2020) who revealed that being male increased the probability of investment and attributed it to male agripreneurs having better networks in society which place them in better positions to get more information and new production techniques compared to females.…”

“…This is in consonance with Nwibo and Alimba (2013) who opined that educated individual has better potential to choose the area to invest as he/she knows the nitty-gritty of investment. Similarly, Okeke et al (2015) reported a positive relationship between educational status and investment decision and attributed this to better understand of the risks and uncertainties found in business.…”

“…The study was conducted in Benue State, Nigeria, situated between latitudes 6° 25' N and 8° 8' N and longitudes 7° 47' E and 10° E. Benue State is the nation's acclaimed food basket because of the abundance of its agricultural resources. The State is a major producer of food and cash crops in Nigeria (Okeke et al, 2015). Smallholder farmers who produce arable crops like rice, yam, cassava, sweet potato, maize, vegetables, soya bean, as well as livestock like poultry, goat, sheep, piggery, cattle, and fish including marketers/distributors and processors of these crops and livestock abound in the State.…”

“…However, marketers whose level of investment decrease and are members of cooperative societies are those whose households are large and do not consist of economically active adults. Okeke et al (2015) opined that such agripreneurs with large household size will likely channel more of his/her income to food consumption expenditure and family upkeeps rather than to save and invest. Similarly, Mutinda et al (2020) opined that the number of people living with and depending on agripreneurs negatively influence their decision to invest in their enterprises.…”

“…Investment has been shown to be a two-step process i.e., decision of whether or not to invest and how much to invest (Oskam et al, 2009;Worku and Mekonnen, 2012;Mutinda et al, 2020). However, investment studies in Nigeria just to mention a few reviewed (Nwibo and Alimba, 2013;Nwibo and Mbam, 2013;Okeke et al, 2015), modeled only one of these two processes in their works. Also, these studies did not take into cognizance the possibility of having a zero investment for investors who are willing to invest.…”