37pgs, With agriculture considered key to generating jobs for Africa's growing population, several studies have explored youth aspirations toward farming. While many factors explaining aspirations have been well studied, little is known about the actors' shaping aspirations. We developed a novel framework that focuses on the factors and actors shaping the formation and actual aspirations of rural youth and applied a unique “whole-family” approach based on mixed-methods data collection from adolescents (boys and girls) and corresponding adults. We applied this approach in rural Zambia, collecting data from 348 adolescents and adults in 87 households. The study finds that parents strongly shape youth aspirations—they are much more influential than siblings, peers, church, and media. Male youth are more likely to envision farming (full or part-time) than female youth. The male preference for farming reflects their parent's aspirations and is reinforced by the patriarchal system of land inheritance. Parents' farm characteristics, such as degree of mechanization, are also associated with aspirations. We recommend a “whole- family” approach, which acknowledges the influential role of parents, for policies and programs for rural youth and a stronger focus on gender aspects.
Parents shape children's social choices through their social and economic actions. Parental social participation connects children to a civic culture and encourages involvement in civic groups. Parents' ties to farming in farm-dependent communities furuther enhance children's civic orientations by providing added opportunities and incentives for social participation. Data from Iowa Youth and Families Project confirm these hypotheses, showing that the children of farmers and of rural leaders are more likely to participate in civic groups. These results establish parental social involvement as a source of social capital and demonstrate the importance of farm incluences for understanding the social involvement of youth in rural society.
Godwin, Deborah D. (author), Marlowe, Julia (author), and Department of Housing and Consumer Economics and Agricultural Experiment Station, University of Georgia, Athens, GA; Department of Housing and Consumer Economics and Agricultural Experiment Station, University of Georgia, Athens, GA
Format:
Journal article
Publication Date:
1990
Published:
USA
Location:
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 85 Document Number: C05437
INTERPAKS, Explores a frequently neglected aspect of adoption, namely how family characteristics influence utilization decision. The authors question the typical view of farmers as "individualistic actors", and direct research toward kinship arrangements, extended family networks, and group reinforcement for adoption decisions. The research centers on adoption of soil conservation practices in the Palouse are of Washington and Idaho. The findings demonstrate a definite link between kinship arrangements and adoption behavior: 1) farming with other relatives introduces additional information and opportunities for innovation; 2) two generations farming together tend to be more sensitive to future implications of production technologies. The research is limited to one area and one type of innovation, but it does raise the important issue of how the social organization of production affects adoption decisions.
