Livelihood Assets Influence on Rural Youth Participating in Support Initiatives to Enhance Agricultural Participation

Government efforts to encourage youth participation in the agricultural sector through support initiatives have yet to realise the envisioned outcomes. With research primarily considering the factors influencing youth participation in the agricultural sector, involvement in agricultural support initiatives is rarely considered. The main aim of the research is to explore whether differences in access to assets within the Modified Sustainable Livelihood Framework influence youth participation in support initiatives. Data was collected between 2018 and 2021 from 369 randomly selected youth from QwaQwa and Thaba' Nchu in the Free State Province, South Africa. The regression results confirmed that participation in support initiatives is low. Already being involved in the sector, marital status, cooperative membership, and social grants were used for inputs as the exogenous factors and resilience and optimism as endogenous factors representing psychological capital were found to enhance participation in support initiatives. Youth need to draw on their endogenous capabilities to seek and access support initiatives while also seeking options to access livelihood assets. This will complement the efforts by governments and other institutions to enhance their participation in the sector. We recommend that policies consider that youth are not involved in the sector and have limited resource access. Secondly, the policies should motivate youth to achieve self-sustainability in their operations and not depend on unearned money such as grants.