Abstract:

Recently, several youths are becoming modern farmers. This change in trend prompted this research. This study examines the reasons for the recent increase in Cameroonian youths in modern farming and the challenges of acquiring farmlands. Primary data was collected from 149 survey respondents and 17 interviewees. The analysed data led to the following results. High unemployment and the high cost of living in Cameroon have frustrated many youths and made 91.95% of youth farmers turn to agriculture as an easy opportunity to gain self-employment. The high use of social media by some modern young farmers to showcase their successes and offer online training in farming has motivated many youths to become modern farmers as 68.5% of youth farmers claimed to have received agricultural training through the media. The state of Cameroon in general and the President of the Republic of Cameroon in particular have on several occasions advised youths to engage in farming. Several non-governmental organisations provide grants to modern farmers, encouraging youths to engage in modern farming. The recent increase in the prices of agricultural produce has attracted many youths into modern farming. Young farmers engaged in modern farming face serious problems of farmland acquisition. Many of them cannot buy farmlands and 38.2% of them are forced to practise farming on leased land, leading to exploitation of these modern farmers by their landlords. Youths in modern farming suffer from land disputes through the purchasing of disputed lands. They are generally unable to acquire land certificates for their farmlands. This exposes the youths to future land disputes and makes it difficult for them.