AGRICULTURAL ENTREPRENEURSHIP LITERACY AS A STRATEGY FOR ADDRESSING NIGERIA’S ECONOMIC CHALLENGES

Abstract

Nigeria, a country heavily reliant on oil and gas for its economic survival, faces significant socio-economic challenges, more importantly, as global oil prices remain volatile, and as income continue to dwindle. This economic vulnerability underscores the urgent need for diversification, with agriculture adjudged as a critical sector capable of driving economic growth and food sustainability. As the world scrambles to achieve food security and end hunger, agricultural entrepreneurship offers an enduring platform for achieving sustainable agricultural practices, food security, employment creation, and improved living standards, hence the need for government to rejig her policies to achieve food sustainability through craft and vocational agricultural literacy programs. This paper, therefore, argues that the introduction of agricultural entrepreneurship as a special and compulsory general course in the Nigerian tertiary institutions will help the youths cultivate the zeal for agripreneurship, provide needed skills required for modern agricultural practices, brood innovation, attain food security, and check unemployment. The study adopts a desk review methodology, drawing extensively from secondary sources, including peer-reviewed articles, policy documents, and institutional reports. Empirical evidences mainly from the internet were used to examine the effect of agripreneurship on food security, poverty alleviation, and employment generation. Findings reveal that introducing agricultural entrepreneurship as a compulsory general course in the Nigerian tertiary institutions will positively affect overall economic growth and food security. It is recommended that embedding agricultural entrepreneurship study into the broader curriculum will assist tertiary institutions contribute significantly to addressing Nigeria's food and economic challenges.