Revitalisation of Young Farmers' Club in Secondary Schools for Economic Empowerment of Students in Onelga, Rivers State, Nigeria

Abstract

This study investigates strategies for revitalising Young Farmers' Clubs (YFCs) in secondary schools for the economic empowerment of students in the Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni Local Government Area (ONELGA) of Rivers State. Three specific objectives and corresponding research questions and null hypotheses were formulated and tested at 0.05 level of significance. The descriptive survey design was adopted for the study. The population comprised 56 agricultural science teachers and 30,529 secondary school students from 27 public secondary schools in the study area. A sample of 442 respondents, consisting of 49 agricultural science teachers and 393 students, was selected using random sampling and the Taro Yamane formula. A structured questionnaire titled Revitalisation of Young Farmers' Clubs in Secondary Schools for Economic Empowerment Questionnaire (RYFCSSEEQ) served as the instrument for data collection. Data were analysed using mean and standard deviation, while the null hypotheses were tested using the z-test statistic at the 0.05 level of significance. Findings revealed that most respondents held mixed opinions regarding policy development and implementation. Some respondents disagreed, indicating unawareness of the existence of Young Farmers' Clubs among secondary school students in ONELGA, whereas the majority agreed that policy implementation would help revitalise the YFCs (teachers: X ̄= 2.80; students: X ̄= 2.63). Other strategies such as ̄ ̄ increased funding (Teachers: X = 2.90; Students: X = 2.79) and ̄ improved access to resources (Teachers: X = 1.70; Students: X ̄ = 1.99) were also agreed upon as essential for revitalising YFCs in the study area. Based on the findings, it was recommended that state and local governments implement policies aimed at enhancing the capacity of teachers and students involved in YFCs through training programmes on modern agricultural practices, with emphasis on hands-on and practical experiences. Furthermore, government agencies, non-governmental organisations (NGOs), and other relevant bodies should provide financial support to young individuals interested in agriculture through loans, grants, and related initiatives.