Influence of Agricultural Training on Youth Farm Entrepreneurial Self-efficacy: A Study of Folk Development Colleges in Tanzania

Abstract

Providing entrepreneurial competencies to youth is currently the key to employment generation given the declining public sector employment opportunities in Tanzania. However, to generate such employment youth need to develop a strong belief in their capabilities to use the provided knowledge and skills, and the training provided has to reflect such intention. This further means that Folk Development Colleges (FDCs) being among the training institutions need to offer employment goal-oriented education centred equally in all domains of learning. The study aimed to address two specific objectives: First, to assess the influence of agricultural training on youth farm entrepreneurial self-efficacy. Secondly, to assess the relationship between farm entrepreneurial self-efficacy and youth farm entrepreneurial intention. A cross-sectional design was used involving 300 respondents randomly selected from three FDCs offering agricultural courses. Qualitative and quantitative data were collected and analysed by using descriptive and inferential statistics. The analyses generally show a significant relationship between agricultural courses studied and youth farm entrepreneurial self-efficacy. A significant relationship was also found between farm entrepreneurial self-efficacy and youth farm entrepreneurial intention. However, resource acquisition and operational competencies self-efficacy constructs seemed to have more influence on youth farm entrepreneurial intention compared to managerial and financial competencies self-efficacy constructs. It is recommended that course contents and the teaching environment be updated regularly according to changes in the demands of the agricultural sector industry. As it stands, the whole FDC curriculum needs a review, and urgent improvements are needed in relation to financial and managerial competencies.