ASSESSMENT OF CONSTRAINTS FACED BY YOUTHS IN RICE VALUE ADDITION ACTIVITIES IN KEBBI STATE, NIGERIA

Youths play essential roles in producing and distributing rice as farmers and labourers face
numerous constraints in rice value-addition activities. The study assessed the constraints to
youth involvement in rice production, processing, and consumption. The study also identified
the respondents' socio-economic characteristics, examined the constraints faced by respondents,
and identified the coping strategies used to remove the constraints. A multistage sampling
technique was used to select respondents for the study. Data was analysed using descriptive.
Inferential statistics such as regression was used to test the hypothesis. The mean age of the
respondents was 27.49±4.53, and the majority were males. The majority (67.3%) were married,
with 14.67±2.53 mean years of experience in value addition, and almost all (90.9%) were literate
in both Western and Quranic education. The mean household size was 6±2.20, the number of
wives was 1±0.35, the mean farm size was 1.79±0.92, and the mean annual income was N
206,066.50-1,336,333.00. The constraints faced by the youth `were barriers to entry into rice
value addition activities, inadequate irrigation facilities (M=3.418), inadequate modern and
affordable processing facilities (M=3.226), addition to the extra cost of production (M= 3.202),
insufficient institutional support (i.e., credit) was identified as one of the constraints faced by
the respondents; the majority (88.2) faced severe constraints. The result of the regression
coefficient (β) shows that total perceived factors (β=0.203; p≤0.01), total constraints (β=0.388;
p≤0.01), annual income (β=0.47; p≤0.01), and household (β=0.171; p≤0.01) were significant
with constraints faced by the youth in rice value addition activities with a value of R2 =0.31.
Conclusively, youth were severely constrained in rice value addition activities; it was
recommended that government and non-governmental organisations remove all barriers to entry
into rice value addition activities, and so, that it will accommodate more youth in rice value
addition activities in Nigeria.