Contribution of Home Farming on Academic Performance and Career Preferences: Evidence from Senior High Agricultural Science Students in Sagnarigu, Ghana

This research examines home farming experiences of Senior High School students and how that influences their academic achievements and career decisions. A cross-sectional survey was adopted for the study. A total of Two Hundred and Fifty-nine students were randomly sampled. A questionnaire and checklist were used for the data collection. The data was analysed using Chi-square tests and logistic regression to establish the significant relationship between home farming and students' decision to study agriculture, academic performance, and career preferences. Access to education was sex-dependent with males having more (66.8%) access. A majority (63.7%) of the respondents grew up in rural areas. A majority (87.2%) of respondents engaged in home farming. Students' Parents’ occupations significantly influenced their involvement in home farming. A greater proportion (90.3%) of the students deliberately chose to study Agriculture at the SHS level. Engagement in home farming significantly affected students' decision to study Agricultural Science, thus rejecting the null hypothesis (H0<sub>1</sub>). This suggests that home farming has a strong, positive influence on the decision to study Agriculture. Students who did not engage in home farming are about 7.4 times more likely to be undecided about their future careers in Agriculture. Home farming did not significantly influence the actual academic performance of respondents. It was therefore concluded that students who engaged in home farming were more likely to choose Agricultural Science as a course of study. The study then recommends that early exposure to home farming should be encouraged at the basic education level.