A section of participants at the validation workshop discussing the research findings
A section of participants at the validation workshop discussing the research findings

Majority of young people have posi­tive attitude towards agriculture, and Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET), a new study has revealed.

The study revealed that more than 91 per cent of the respon­dents said they were willing to work in those sectors if they were given the necessary train­ing and skills.

The research was commis­sioned as part of the Ghana Grows Programme, which is a collaboration among Master­card Foundation, the Spring­board Road Show Foundation, and Lyme Haus, and aimed at helping to change the negative mindsets about agriculture and TVET.

Speaking at the launch, Mrs Comfort Ocran, Executive Di­rector of the Springboard Road Show Foundation, said, “Ghana Grows is a three-year programme comprising a series of multi-fac­eted interventions that seek to in­spire young people aged between 15 and 35 years, especially young women, to explore opportunities and deliberately pursue decent and fulfilling careers in agricul­ture, agribusiness, TVET.”

She said the survey captured the views of over 1,100 randomly selected young people between 15- 35 years across all 16 regions of the country.

Mr Ocran said the findings showed that 46 per cent of the young people surveyed were un­employed, with 36 per cent having a tertiary degree.

“The young people’s knowl­edge of the agriculture and ATVET sector was commendable, with over 80 per cent of them knowing that the professions in the sector go beyond farming to include economists, scientists, and engineers. However, only 40 per cent had knowledge of programmes and opportunities being offered to the youth, 33 per cent knew about programmes for women, and 24 per cent knew about programmes for persons with disabilities,” Mrs Ocran stated.

She explained that the Ghana Grows Programme was aimed at shaping the thoughts of young people about agriculture, agribusiness and TVET and engagements with policy makers in those sectors.

“It is, therefore, necessary to capitalise on the positive attitude of young people towards the sector, improve their perception of it, and create an enabling environment and clear pathways for them to participate in the agriculture and ATVET sectors,” organisers noted

BY TIMES REPORTER