Determinants of Youth Participation in Agriculture: A Case of Polder Farming Practices in Southwest Coastal Areas of Bangladesh

Revitalizing the agricultural sector through youth participation is essential to better adapt to changing climate and support sustainable development. However, youth participation in agriculture has been declining in developing countries, including Bangladesh. Only a limited number of scientific studies have been conducted to address this concern. This study aimed to examine the factors affecting the perception and participation of youths (18-35 years of age) in agriculture, considering the polder agricultural practices in the coastal zones. A simple random sampling technique was followed in this study. The quantitative data were randomly collected from 270 young men (64%) and women (36%) from Polder 30 located in Khulna district of Bangladesh. The determinants of participation choice were identified using the logit regression model. The empirical findings reveal that factors such as gender, farming experience, agricultural and youth development training, and access to credit positively affected youths’ decision to participate in agricultural practices. On the other hand, their age, education level, and plan to migrate to cities inversely influenced their decision. Moreover, the nature of the work, restricted access to land, and fewer work opportunities often contributed to such negative attitudes of youths toward agriculture. It is recommended that the government and policymakers should adopt appropriate measures through inclusion of practical agricultural education in curriculum, availability of extension services, and training programs on modern agricultural technology, a significant social recognition of agriculture in society and provide access to new technologies and adequate credit facilities to change the attitude of youths toward agriculture that will contribute to achieving agricultural sustainability and food security in Bangladesh.