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AN EVALUATION OF THE IMPACT OF ENTREPRENEURSHIP DEVELOPMENT IN

CROP FARMING ON JOB CREATION IN NIGERIADr Agboola, J. O1, (Rector), Dr Ademiluyi, L. F1 (Deputy Rector),

Solomon, A. Z1 (Director of Research), Olaleye M. O1 (Director of

Entrepreneurship Education) and Oladunjoye, O.2 (Lecturer I)1- Osun State Polytechnic, Private Mail Bag 301, Iree, Osun State,

Nigeria2- Centre for Entrepreneurship Education, Yaba College of Technology,

Yaba, Lagos State.

1e-mail: olaleyeolugbenga@yahoo.com; femiluyi@yahoo.co.uk,thompsondx@yahoo.com and agboolajo@yahoo.com

2e-mail: oladunjoyeolawale@yahoo.com

Abstract

Entrepreneurship, Job Creation and Unemployment are economic issues which have a lot to

do with population trends in the economy. In Nigeria, unemployment remains the major source of

poverty particularly among the youths between eighteen to twenty-eight age cohorts.

Entrepreneurship, therefore, becomes the catalyst of a source of job creation in Nigeria.

Employment creation is no longer the prerogative of government but a joint effort between the

public and private sectors. This is with a view to identifying these entrepreneurial characteristics

and the factors that influence their translation to optimum job creation and business

performance. This paper relied on secondary data extracted from the statistical records of

National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), Nigeria via Statistics Division of the Department of Budget,

Planning, Research and Statistics, Boripe Local Government, Osun State, Nigeria. In order to

provide empirical basis for the impact of entrepreneurship development on crop farming in

relation with job creation in Nigeria, the data was analyzed by regression method where

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employment (measured per thousand) was compared with investment in crop agriculture

(measured in million naira) intentionally to know whether or not there is any correlation

(relationship) between the two variables under study. The results showed that the technical

entrepreneurship talent which translates in creating jobs in the real sector of the economy is

lacking in Nigeria. It is concluded that, in job creation, crop agriculture covers approximately 97%.

This paper also concluded that there is need for a strategic approach to focus on crop farming

that involves as many stakeholders as possible.

Keywords: Entrepreneurship, Job Creation, Unemployment, Investment, Crop Farming.

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INTRODUCTION

The experiences of developed

economics in relation to the

roles played by entrepreneurship

buttresses the fact that the

importance of entrepreneurship

cannot be overemphasized

especially among the developing

countries. In order to highlight

its significance in relation to

the growth and development of a

given economy, entrepreneurship

has been variously referred to as

a major source of job creation.

Unemployment remains the major

cause of poverty particularly

among the youths between 18 to 28

age cohorts. Dike (2009) notes

that youth full time unemployment

rate for 2006–2008 was 55.9

percent, four times higher than

the national unemployment rate of

19 percent. It is believed that

if government encourages

investment in crop farming, the

rate of unemployment in Nigeria

will reduce drastically.

Entrepreneurial activities have

been found to be capable of

making positive impact on the

economy of a nation and the

quality of life of the people

(Adejumo 2000). Studies have

established its positive

relationship with stimulation of

economic growth, employment

generation and empowerment of the

disadvantaged segment of the

population, which include women

and the poor (Oluremi and Agboola

2011).

Nigeria has numerous business and

investment potentials due to the

abundant, vibrant and dynamic

human and natural resources it

possesses. These resources

require the ability to identify

potentially useful and

economically viable fields of

endeavours. Nigerians have made

their marks in diverse fields

such as science, technology,

academics, business and

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entertainment, to mention but a

view.

Meanwhile, entrepreneurship

activities and job creation in

Nigeria have developed

enterprises in the following

areas: In Power and Transport

Sector, there are power

generations, haulage business

(cargo and passengers);

agricultural/agro-allied

activities where there are

foodstuffs, restaurants, fast

food vending, etc. In the area of

solid minerals, there are

quarrying, germ stone

cutting/polishing and crushing

engineering. In the area of

information and telecom business,

there are manufacturing and

repairs of GSM accessories as

well as printing and selling of

recharge cards. In oil and gas

business, there are construction

and maintenance of pipelines,

drilling, refining bye products.

In hospitality and tourism

business, there are hotels,

accommodation, resorts centres,

film and home video production.

In engineering and fabrication

work, there are machines and

tools fabrications. In the area

of environmental and waste

management business, there are

refuse collection/disposal,

recycling and drainage/sewage

construction job.

In Nigeria, small scale

businesses represent about 90% of

the industrial sector in terms of

the number of enterprises. They

also account for 70% of national

industrial employment if the

threshold is set at 10 – 50

employees, small scale businesses

contribute 10% of manufacturing

output and a meager 1% of Gross

Domestic Product (GDP) in 2001

(Ajayi, 2002). Similarly, they

have also contributed

significantly to economic

development through employment,

job creation and sustainable

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livelihood (Nigerian Investment

Promotion Commission

2003).Studies have shown that the

entrepreneurs most especially the

small scale, in many countries

provide the mechanism for

promoting indigenous

entrepreneurship, enhancing

greater opportunities per unit of

capital invested, aiding the

development of local technology

and creating job opportunities

(Sule, 1986, Nils – Henrik and

Morch, 1995)

The inability of government at

various levels to provide

employment for its citizenry

cannot be shouldered by the

government alone but also its

citizens because government alone

cannot provide jobs for

everybody; this is why people

should learn to be ‘self-

employed’.

A cursory look at Nigeria

indicates that she either lacks

entrepreneurship ability or that

government entrepreneurship

oriented policies are not

effective. Ugwu (2006) argues

that most entrepreneurship

related policies and programs in

Nigeria fall short of appropriate

development frameworks.

Today, Nigeria is confronted with

dismal economic indices,

unemployment, poverty, and a weak

exchange rate. Despite the

Nigerian economy’s advertised

impressive growth rate reportedly

about 8 percent annually in

recent times, the economic impact

of entrepreneurial development is

relatively low. The socio-

economic situation today is

largely due to our failure to

develop the incapacities to

efficiently harness the

opportunity sets. To a large

extent, we in Africa have entered

into ‘Logic of Poverty’ because

we are no longer capable of

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internally generating the

capacities to procure goods and

services that correspond to our

needs and desires. Therefore, the

greatest challenge is to turn

around the subsistent

agricultural sector characterized

by low productivity to become

remunerative, competitive and

sustainable.

The dexterity with which hunger

and poverty have devastated lives

and future ambition of youths

especially graduates in Nigeria

have led to scholars prescribing

entrepreneurship development as

the permanent cure for extreme

hunger and poverty necessitated

by unemployment. Hence, economic

displacement is one of the

external forces that influence

the development of

entrepreneurship. The great need

for entrepreneurship in Nigeria

today, more than ever, is

necessitated by the rate of

unemployment and its effect on

both the people and the nation

and the need for small and medium

enterprises.

The rapid growth in population

has created concerns for income

generation and jobs creation,

which are supposed to sustain the

population on an acceptable

standard of living in practical

terms. The high population has

already created a rising level of

unemployment in the country.

Government capacity to provide

employment is dwindling as

government gradually withdraws

from the business, with emphasis

on reduced cost of governance and

drastic reduction in the number

of government institution. People

have been growing crops such as

grains, fruits, nuts, vegetables,

cotton, food or even flowers

either at subsistence level or on

commercial basis as a means of

job creation in Nigeria.

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Government of any nation should,

with a view to reducing the rate

of unemployment in such a

particular country, be more

participative in the development

and encouragement of small and

medium scale businesses. It is to

be noted that the willingness in

many citizens to actively

participate in small and medium

scale entrepreneurial activities

especially in crop farming is

becoming relatively low as a

result of reduced rate of

government participation at

various levels.

LITERATURE REVIEW

The concepts of Entrepreneurship

and Job Creation

The word ‘Entrepreneur’ is

derived from the French verb

entrepreneur, which means to

undertake. Economic scholars from

time to time of Adam Smith,

through the neoclassical era, the

English Economists, the American

Economists down to the German

school all have their various

perspective of the role and

function of the entrepreneur in

economic activity. There is

agreement however that creation

of wealth is not a function of

land, labour and capital alone.

While importance of these basic

productive factors is recognized,

more important is the role of the

entrepreneur or the organizer.

Binks and Vale (1990) for

instance, define entrepreneurship

as an unrehearsed combination of

economic resources instigated by

the uncertain prospect of

temporary monopoly profit”.

Entrepreneur is also defined as

the “instigator of

entrepreneurial events for so

long as they occur” (Kanothi,

2009)

Say (1845) saw the entrepreneur

as the organizer whose input gave

value to the other resources when

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combined in the production

process. Schumpeter (1934)

emphasized the role of the

entrepreneur as innovation and

technical change, that is, the

introduction of new combinations

of factors in new process or for

new output.

The role of the entrepreneur as

an agent of economic growth and

employment generation in the

society has gained considerable

attention both in the literature

and the policy thrust of well

developed, and developed and

developing economics (Lauder,

Bookcock and Presley, 1994). What

makes entrepreneurship

significant is the ability to

create a commercial or industrial

enterprise and this can be very

crucial to the advancement of

social progress. The creation of

small and medium scale

enterprises and their subsequent

expansion through successful

development adds to the

productive capacity of a nation.

Entrepreneurship has been

characterized as productive and

unproductive (Baumul, 1993).

Productive entrepreneurship

contributes to economic growth

while unproductive

entrepreneurship results in net

reduction of social income and

wealth. Thus, only when

entrepreneurship is productive

that can make positive

contribution to a nation’s

output.

Basically, the Nigerian private

sector can be categorized into

three broad industrial spheres:

Oil, Agriculture and Industrial /

Services (including non-oil

mining). The Nigerian economy has

depended largely on crude oil for

its sustenance, which contributes

over 90% of its foreign exchange.

Diversification of the resource

base of the economy informed the

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establishment of SAP and the

orientation towards a market led

economy. But in terms of

entrepreneurial development, it

can be argued that the oil

industry has minimal

contribution. This is because its

Nigerian content has been

estimated at less than 5%. Most

of the entrepreneurial activities

of the oil industry are initiated

outside the country’s boundaries,

with Nigerians playing a passive

role, at best.

Agriculture, on the other hand,

has been the main occupation of

Nigerians and engages the

majority of her people.

Entrepreneurially, agriculture

presents far more opportunities

for entrepreneurial development

in the sense that it is a

breeding ground for micro-

business. This study focused on

crop farming only, which is one

of the branches of agriculture,

and the rate of involvement in

entrepreneurial activities in

Nigeria.

The Industrial / Services Sector

is where entrepreneurial talents

would be expected to be markedly

exhibited because of the vast

opportunities that exist in the

production of goods and services

as well as the major role played

by agriculture in the supply of

raw materials needed for the

production. Therefore, most

references to entrepreneurship

focus on the industrial and

services sector.

The recent policy measures of the

Nigerian government towards

agriculture as well as small and

medium scale industries funding

signify their entrepreneurial

quality. According to the

European Commission (1992)

Classification of SMEs, based on

number of employees, a micro

enterprise is a firm that has

between 0 and 9 employees and

since most Nigerian farmers

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operate at the subsistence level,

they are mainly micro –

businesses. However, farming as a

business enterprise, with an

entrepreneurial bent, is still in

its infancy. The mode of farming

in most communities has remained

traditional / primitive. But in

terms of the number of people

engaged in agriculture and its

Nigerian contents, the

agricultural sector should be a

major contributor to GDP.

The effects of the business cycle

as well as underlying structural

questions have been the subject

of a large body of research and

policy recommendations. Among the

structural aspect, the relation

between firm size and employment

creation has attracted policy-

makers’ attention. Triggered by

empirical work by David Birch’s

work and the rising interest by

policy-makers in employment

issues led to further studies of

the subject, especially in the

United State, and in other

countries. Soon a debate emerged,

mainly in academic circles about

the robustness of Birch’s results

with respect to their validity

across countries, sectors and

over time and several important

methodological and data questions

were identified. This led to an

improvement in methods of

analysis and the understanding of

the importance of firm size in

job creation.

At the heart of the debate on the

economy are two fundamentally

different view points on how jobs

are actually created. In the view

of the liberal economist, they

state that the economy is powered

by consumer demand. Job creation

is a function of the amount being

spent on the free market. The

government can stimulate the

economy by purchasing goods and

services on the market or by

giving citizens money or

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incentives to purchase goods and

services.

Thus, the conservative economists

state that the economy is powered

by business owners. Jobs are

created when business owners have

enough revenue that they can

afford to hire new workers while

maintaining healthy profits.

Government can’t stimulate the

economy, but if it takes away any

profits from business owners,

they will stop hiring.

Agriculture, also called farming

or husbandry, is the cultivation

of animals, plants, fungi and

other life forms for food, fiber,

biofuel and other products used

to sustain life. Agriculture was

the key development in the rise

of sedentary human civilization,

whereby farming of domesticated

species created food surpluses

that nurtured the development of

civilization. The major

agricultural products can be

broadly grouped into foods,

fibers, fuels and raw materials.

Crop farming is the act of

growing crops such as grains,

fruits, nuts, vegetables, cottons

and foods. Important categories

of crops include grains and

pseudograins, pulses (legumes),

forage, fruits and vegetables.

Specific crops are cultivated in

distinct growing regions

throughout the world, in millions

of metric tones, based on Food

and Agriculture Organisation

(FAO) estimates.

Theoretical Framework

There is a relationship between

the classical economists and

Schumpeter and his cohort in the

theory of entrepreneurship, hence

many entrepreneurial theoretical

insight have come from economics

including a rediscovery of the

work of Schumpeter. While the

explanations of entrepreneurship

have adopted different

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theoretical assumptions, most of

these concern three central

features of entrepreneurial

phenomena, the nature of

entrepreneurial opportunities,

the nature of the decision making

context within which

entrepreneurs operate.

The theoretical foundation of

this paper is based on the

psychological theories of the

refugee and Schumpeter effects.

This process of unemployment

fast-tracking entrepreneurship

activity has been termed a

refugee effect. This remarkable

view dates back at least to

Oxenfeldt (1943) who pointed out

that individuals confronted with

unemployment and low prospects

for wage employment often turn to

self-employment as a viable

alternative. This observation was

also an extension of Knight’s

view that individuals make a

decision among three states-

unemployment, self-employment and

employment will lead to an

increase in start-up business

activity on the grounds that the

opportunity cost of not starting

a firm has decreased - Evans and

Leughton (1990) and Blanchflower

and Meyer (1994).

Similarly, Picot et al (1998) and

Rfeiffer and Reize (2000) observe

that new firms hire the needed

employees to work for them, thus

helping to reduce the level of

unemployment in the society.

Evans and Leughton, (1990) found

that unemployment is positively

associated with greater

propensity to start a new firm.

Many other studies established

that greater unemployment serves

as a catalyst for start-up

activity (Reynolds, Miller and

Makai, 1995; Reynolds, Storey and

Westhead, 1994). The process of

entrepreneurship activity

reducing unemployment situation

in the economy is termed

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“Schumpeter Effect”. Garofoloi

(1994) and Audretsch and Fritsch

(1994) in their separate studies

found that unemployment is

negatively related with new firm

start-ups, that is, as new

businesses are established

employability is stimulated and

unemployment reduces

sustainability. In the same vein,

Lucas (1978) and Jovanovic (1982)

note that high unemployment in

the society is associated with a

low degree of entrepreneurial

activities, that is, where

propensity to start-up

enterprises is low, the rate of

unemployment would be very high.

The effect of the above theory is

that those who are employed tend

to remain so because they possess

lower endowments of human capital

and entrepreneurial talents

required to start and sustain new

firms to keep them going. A low

rate of entrepreneurship culture

and skills in any society may be

a consequence of the low economic

growth, which also reflects

higher levels of unemployment

(Andretsch, 1995; Oladele P. O.

et al, 2011).

Entrepreneurship Development

Programmes (EDP) in Nigeria

The Federal and State Governments

in Nigeria embarked upon various

Entrepreneurship Development

Programmes (EDPs) since

independence to encourage self-

employment. The old Western

Government introduced farm

settlement in 1960 with the aim

of absorbing the unemployed

school leavers and drop-outs into

gainful employment. The Eastern

Nigerian Government introduced

similar schemes to encourage job

creation. The Northern Nigerian

Government introduced the

employment oriented programmes

such as the Northern Nigerian

Farm Settlements and Ceramic

Training Centres. The Obasanjo

government in the late 1970

introduced the “Operation feed

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the Nation” as well as “Shagari’s

Green Revolution” which

encouraged small farm holdings.

The Imo State Government in

Nigeria introduced the Imo Youth

Farm Programme and the Graduate

Farmers’ Scheme. In 1986, the

Lagos State Government

established a Graduate Farming

Scheme to deal with the problems

of unemployment and food

shortage. The Ondo State designed

the “Back-to-Water” Programme for

the indigenes of the riverine

areas as well as the “Back-to-

Land” Programme designed to

involve the state indigenes

interested in agriculture as a

means of livelihood. While the

Oyo State Government of Nigeria

introduced the Integrated Self-

Employment for University and

Polytechnic Graduates in

Agriculture.

Despite the fact that some of

these state programmes were

successful, the Federal

Government re-emphasized and

demonstrated its concern for the

problem of mass unemployment by

setting up the National

Directorate of Employment (NDE)

late 1986. In the year 1987, the

‘Working for Yourself Programme’

was launched by the Federal

Ministry of Industry.

The important point to note here

is the impact of these

Entrepreneurship Development

Programmes (EDPs) on economic

development particularly in

eradicating poverty and

generating employment. Within one

year of existence, the National

Directorate of Employment (NDE)

registered laudable achievements,

for example, its National Open

Apprenticeship Scheme had eighty-

three thousand (83,000)

participants within four months

as against a target of fifty

thousand (50,000) for a whole

year (FOS, 1987). About half of

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them were later assisted to be

self-employed. Similarly, the

National Directorate of

Employment (NDE)’s Special Public

Works Projects (SPWP) had a

yearly target of twenty thousand

(20,000) while twenty-four

thousand (24,000) actually passed

through it in the first nine

months of existence and most of

these acquired skills in

construction and maintenance for

setting up own enterprises later.

The agricultural programmes

provided up to forty-five

thousand (45,000) jobs and

yielded thousands of tones of

harvested crops, thus alleviating

poverty. Finally, the Small Scale

Industries and the Graduate

Employment Programme provided

training loans and jobs for

unemployed graduates. All

National Youth Service Corps

(NYSC) Members were trained in

Entrepreneurship while in camp

and some were later given loans

to set up own enterprises.

Furthermore, within a few months

of operations, the National

Directorate of Employment (NDE)

established and reactivated one

hundred and ninety-five (195) co-

operatives, while the

participants in its waste to

health programme made products

that were being test marketed and

popularly accepted by ships and

consumers generally (Fatunla,

1989a). The peculiar problems

facing small business

entrepreneurs have been

identified as lack of skilled

manpower and technical know-how,

finance and capital, raw

materials, machinery and

equipment, infrastructural

facilities, markets, government

policy consistency and other

institutional supports. There are

the barriers limiting the supply

of Entrepreneurs and therefore

their products.

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

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Data Source

The data for this study is

secondary being extracted from

official records of National

Bureau of Statistics, Nigeria via

the Department of Budget,

Planning, Research and

Statistics, Boripe Local

Government Area of Osun State in

Nigeria for the years 2001 and

2010 inclusive (See Appendix A as

attached).

The data collected was analyzed

using simple linear regression

approach as statistical tool. The

methods include obtaining

suitable simple linear regression

model, verifying the degree of

linear relationship between

investment in crop agriculture

and employment, obtaining the

degree of variation in employment

which can be explained by

investment in crop farming.

Scatter Diagram

This is a diagram that shows the

location of points/values of both

dependent and independent

variables on a rectangular

coordinate system. Scatter

Diagram enables us to study the

data and gives more understanding

about the result. The Scatter

Diagram for the data collected

for this study was carefully

drawn by the use of Statistical

Packages for Social Sciences

(SPSS).

Least Square Method of Parameter

Estimation

There are various methods that

can be used to derive/obtain

estimates of parameters of the

regression model/equation.

Ordinary Least Square (OLS) or

Classical Least Square (CLS) is

used to obtain the parameters of

regression model for this study.

The method is simply explained as

follows:

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Simple Correlation

Simple Correlation is the degree

of relationship that exists

between only two variables where

one is dependent and the other

one is independent. In this

study, employment depends on

investment in crop farming.

Simple Correlation may be linear,

non-linear and/or spurious

(zero). In calculation, the

coefficient of simple correlated

variables fall within the range

of . The closer the

value of to one (1), the

stronger the relationship becomes

and vice-versa.

Also, two variables are

uncorrelated when they tend to

change with no connection to each

other – this is called

zero/spurious correlation.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

The table below shows annual data

on investment in crop farming and

the corresponding number of

citizens engaged by crop

agriculture in Nigeria between

the years 2001 and 2010

inclusive.

YEAR INVESTMENT(=N=’000,00

0)

EMPLOYMENT(’000)

2001 62.00 49.00

2002 65.00 53.00

2003 68.00 58.00

2004 71.00 66.00

2005 79.00 68.00

2006 83.00 76.00

2007 94.00 82.00

2008 98.00 84.00

2009 99.00 88.00

2010 103.00 92.00

Source: National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), Nigeria through Budget,

Planning, Research and Statistics Department, Boripe Local

Government, Osun State, Nigeria.

Drawing of Scatter Diagram

The values of the explanatory

variable ( ) are plotted

against that of the dependent

variable ( ). If all points in

this scatter diagram seem to lie

near a line, then the indication

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is that there is a linear

relationship between the two

variables involved. Otherwise, we

can conclude that no linear

relationship exists between the

two variables involved. Hereunder

is the scatter diagram:

Estimation of Linear Regression

Model

We shall recall that:

………………..

(*)

This (*) is the expected linear

regression model for which:

represents employment,

represents investment in

crop agriculture.

Therefore, employment is a linear

function of investment, which is

symbolically represented by:

; the linear

regression model is obtained as

follows:

From above, we obtain the model

to be:

Estimation of Simple Correlation

Coefficient

The Simple Correlation

Coefficient between dependent

(employment) and independent

(investment) variables shall be

obtained by the formular below:

1

= 0.984 0.98

Coefficient of Determination

In regression model, we define

Coefficient of Determination

(COD) as the proportion of the

variation in dependent variable

explained by variations in the

explanatory variable. It is

denoted by and computed, from

SPSS, as follows:

= 0.969 0.97

Construction of 95% Confidence

Interval

The table is being extracted from

the application of Statistical

Packages for Social Sciences (SPSS)

on the data collected for this

study:

Model 95% ConfidenceInterval

LowerBound

UpperBound

(Constant)

-19.247 4.162

.823 1.103

*95% Confidence Interval foris:

( is statistically significantat 0.05 level)

Interpretation

The scatter diagram shows that

there is linear relationship

between investment in crop

agriculture and employment in

Nigeria. The model obtained (

) can be

interpreted as follows:

employment rate is expected to

increase by 0.963 (per thousand)

while investment in crop

Model R

RSquare

AdjustedR Square

1 .984a .969 .965

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agriculture increases by one

million naira. The result

obtained from the estimation of

simple correlation coefficient (

= 0.984 0.98) indicates that

there is 98% positive correlation

between investment in crop

farming and employment in

Nigeria.

This means that the degree of

linear relationship between

investment in crop farming and

employment is approximately 98%,

that is, at 98% level, increase

in the expenditure on crop

farming leads to increase in

employment generation and vice-

versa.

The confidence interval was used

to establish the fact that the

estimated linear regression model

is adequate since none of the

confidence limits (

) passes

through the origin (zero).

The value of the coefficient of

determination ( = 0.969 97%)

is an indication that 97%

variation in employment can be

accounted for by investment in

crop farming in Nigeria between

the years 2001 and 2010

inclusive. The simple explanation

for this is that approximately

97% variation in employment can

be explained by investment in

crop farming- This is to say that

at least 97% Nigerians are

expected to engage in crop

agriculture even if it is

subsistent. A citizen may have

other means of livelihood but

involvement in crop farming

(either commercial or subsistent)

is advisable for every Nigerian.

Even the Government of Nigeria

allows all civil servants to

involve in crop agriculture

alongside civil service with a

view to increasing food

production and reducing poverty.

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CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION

One of the cardinal targets of

the government is a general

improvement in living standard of

people which can be assured by a

living income and creation of

jobs. The target has a goal to

enhance the value added to

natural resources through the

application of modern technology

to drive the industrialization

process.

The emphasis on entrepreneurship

is to improve outputs and

encourage job creation with a

view to addressing the challenges

of market globalization. It is a

pity that youths and graduates

who are willing to work cannot

find a job and as such earns

nothing. Entrepreneurship is the

magic wand that can change the

story overtime, but people argued

that lack of capital is what

limits many people who are

unemployed and wants to be self-

reliant and also self-employed.

However, it has been argued that

governments have key roles to

play to ensure that

entrepreneurship is a means of

quelling unemployment thus

creating more employment

opportunities. So far, we

conclude from the analyses that

there exists a strong linear

relationship between employment

and investment in crop farming.

This is an indication that

investment in crop farming has

some things to do with employment

rate in this nation (Nigeria).

Though the data collected covered

only ten years, the results of

all statistical analyses indicate

that as the rate of investment in

crop farming increases,

employment generation also

increases and vice versa; this is

at the rate of 98% level.

We cannot rule out crop farming

in reducing the rate of

unemployment in Nigeria because,

from the computation of

1

coefficient of determination, it

was deduced that in job creation,

crop farming covers 97% (from the

available statistical record-See

Appendix A). Considering the

model obtained:

, let assume

there is no investment in crop

agriculture at all at a

particular year, then the result

will be such that the rate of

employment will be retarding by

7.543 per thousand.

From our findings, therefore, the

following recommendations are

made:

(a) Entrepreneurship should be

recognized as an important

factor of production just

as land (raw materials),

labour and capital, since

it is only entrepreneur

that can combine all the

other factors to produce

wealth. Therefore, as the

nation exerts efforts to

exploit our natural

resources, educate the

citizenry and provide

human and physical

capital, sufficient

emphasis should be made to

promote entrepreneurship

in order to create

enterprises, wealth and

employment and thus

promote positive economic

development.

(b) There should be a process

of a programme geared

towards training youths in

Nigeria in the act of

entrepreneurship.

(c) Relevant knowledge

institutions (knowledge

centres such as

universities,

polytechnics, private

research centres, etc

should establish

entrepreneurship desk to

coordinate linkages

between institutions and

entrepreneurs with a view

1

to enhancing technological

diffusion.

(d) Since Science and

Technology (S &T) cannot

be meaningful to the

economy and society at

large if there is no

entrepreneurship to absorb

and utilize the products

commercially, efforts

should be made to re-

design the national S & T

to strengthen the process

of commercialization of

research and development

outputs.

(e) For a new Africa society

to become a reality, we

must move from a logic of

poverty to a logic of

sustainable development by

building an Appropriate

Human Capacity Base. A

serious capacity building

and change of mentality

are conditions sine qua

non to effectively harness

the opportunity sets in

Africa and turn the rural

sector around to become

productive, efficient and

remunerative.

(f) Lastly, it is believed

that, in some of the

African countries most

especially in Nigeria,

training of youths,

between the ages of

eighteen to forty-eight

group, for crop farming as

well as encouraging them

to start up self-business,

with a view to reducing

poverty in the society,

should be utmost programme

in the political office

holders’ manifesto in

Nigeria. If most of the

unemployed are really

empowered in respect of

crop farming, famine will

completely be eradicated

and the rate of poverty

will reduce. Not only

1

these benefits but also

that the probability of

most citizens being

employed will be 0.98 and

this will surely reduce

social vices.

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