THE ROLE OF PERCEPTION IN THE ENTRY OF WOULD-BE ENTREPRENEUR INTO AGRIBUSINESS: A CASE STUDY OF BENUE STATE, NIGERIA

Abstract

The study analyzed perceptions as a determinant of young would-be entrepreneurs’ likelihood to venture into agribusiness in Benue State, Nigeria. The study made use of the ex-post facto research design and the population was made up of registered persons who had been trained or were undergoing agribusiness trainings at business school, university, government agencies or non-governmental organizations within the ages of 15-35 for the 2019 and 2020 cropping season totaling 10320. The sample size of 385 was determined from the population using Taro Yamane formula. Primary data was collected through the use of structured questionnaires. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used to analyze the data collected. Findings revealed that age group of entrepreneurs (mean = 2.83), years of experience in agribusiness (mean = 2.33), their occupation (mean = 2.90) and their level of education (mean = 4.66) are likely socioeconomic indicators of perceptions influencing likelihood to venture among young would-be agribusiness entrepreneurs in the State. The result of the ordered logit regression analysis showed that for 3 categories of perception, years in agribusiness, occupation and level of education are significant influencers viz: personal perception (-0.31^**, 0.28^**, -0.27^**), respectively. social perception (-0.83***, 0.64***, -0.36**) respectively and familial perception (-0.87***, 0.64**, -4.81***) all these results were significant at 1% = *** and 5% = **. The study recommended that, more educational programs for young would-be entrepreneurs needs to be deepened through exposure to more learning tools and capacity building to aid in dispelling negative perceptions about the practice of agribusiness. Promotion of hands-on training, mentorship and campaigns is advocated to enhance experience among young would-be entrepreneurs.