Entrepreneurial Potential and Agribusiness Desirability among Youths in South Kivu, Democratic Republic of the Congo

Guy Simbeko (), Paul-Martin Dontsop Nguezet, Haruna Sekabira, Mastewal Yami, Serge Amato Masirika, Krishan Bheenick, Deogratias Bugandwa, Dieu-Merci Akonkwa Nyamuhirwa, Jacob Mignouna, Zoumana Bamba and Victor Manyong
Additional contact information
Guy Simbeko: International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), Agricultural Transformation Agenda and African Agricultural Leadership Institute (ATA/AALI–DRC), Bukavu P.O. Box 062, Democratic Republic of the Congo
Paul-Martin Dontsop Nguezet: International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), Kalemie P.O. Box 570, Democratic Republic of the Congo
Haruna Sekabira: International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), Kigali KG 563 #3, Kigali P.O. Box 1269, Rwanda
Mastewal Yami: Independent Researcher, Addis Abeba P.O. Box 5689, Ethiopia
Serge Amato Masirika: International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), President Olusegun Obasanjo Research Campus, Kalambo, Bukavu P.O. Box 1222, Democratic Republic of the Congo
Krishan Bheenick: Capacity Development Consultant, Food Organization of the United Nations (FAO), Accra Isert Road, No. 69, North Ridge, Accra P.O. Box GP 1628, Ghana
Deogratias Bugandwa: Faculty of Economics and Management, Université Catholique de Bukavu (UCB), Bukavu P.O. Box 285, Democratic Republic of the Congo
Dieu-Merci Akonkwa Nyamuhirwa: Faculty of Economics and Management, Université Catholique de Bukavu (UCB), Bukavu P.O. Box 285, Democratic Republic of the Congo
Jacob Mignouna: International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), President Olusegun Obasanjo Research Campus, Kalambo, Bukavu P.O. Box 1222, Democratic Republic of the Congo
Zoumana Bamba: International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), Kinshasa 4163, Democratic Republic of the Congo
Victor Manyong: International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), Daar Es Salaam 34441, Tanzania

Sustainability, 2023, vol. 15, issue 1, 1-22

Abstract: In the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), entrepreneurship in the agriculture sector remains for youth a key pillar for income creation. However, few are attracted by agribusiness despite stakeholders’ efforts toward engaging youth in agriculture. Therefore, this study examines the relationship between entrepreneurial potential characteristics and youth desirability to start an enterprise in agriculture among 514 young people in Eastern DRC. This study revealed that youth in South Kivu have different entrepreneurship potential features and agribusiness desirability levels according to their gender and living area. Hence, the youth’s agribusiness desirability is motivated by an awareness of emerging agripreneurial activities, land ownership, parent involvement in farming activities as a role model, perceived agribusiness as an employment source, management-organizing and opportunistic competencies, market analysis, negotiating, and planning skills. Therefore, efforts to attract youth into agribusiness should focus on the use of media, the creation of awareness of available agribusiness initiatives in their area, and the setup of land policy. This is in addition to putting in place capacity-building programs on entrepreneurial and business skills through incubators, and the formalization of youth agribusiness groups that foster capitalizing experiences between new and accelerated agripreneurial enterprises, with the support of parents and financial institutions, focusing on gender sensitivity, in both rural and urban areas.

Keywords: entrepreneurial potential; agribusiness desirability; agribusiness; youths; DRC (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/15/1/873/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/15/1/873/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:15:y:2023:i:1:p:873-:d:1024097

Access Statistics for this article

Sustainability is currently edited by Ms. Alexandra Wu

More articles in Sustainability from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().