Curbing Youth Restiveness Through Rural Agricultural Sociology for Increased Participation and Food Productivity in Bayelsa State, Nigeria

Matthew Witadu Micah Panebi UGO

doi:10.56201/ijaes.vol.12.no4.2026.pg134.143

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Curbing Youth Restiveness Through Rural Agricultural Sociology for Increased Participation and Food Productivity in Bayelsa State, Nigeria

Matthew Witadu Micah Panebi UGO

Abstract

Youth restiveness in Bayelsa State, Nigeria, persists despite abundant agricultural resources, largely because policy interventions have focused on technical and economic solutions while ignoring sociological barriers to youth engagement. This position paper argues that applying rural agricultural sociology, examining social relationships, cultural meanings, land tenure dynamics, and intergenerational power structures, offers a more effective pathway to curbing restiveness and increasing food productivity. Drawing on Relative Deprivation Theory and Social Capital Theory, the paper demonstrates that youth disengage from farming not from laziness but from perceived injustice, land insecurity, and lack of dignity-affirming agricultural roles. A review of scholarly arguments reveals that asset-based programs and governance reforms have repeatedly failed because they neglect sociological diagnosis. The author posits that youth-only cooperatives, peer-led extension services, youth land reserves, and transparent intergenerational governance are non-negotiable components of successful interventions. Policy implications include mandating sociological assessments before asset distribution, retraining extension agents as socio-technical facilitators, and requiring donors to measure sociological outcomes alongside productivity metrics. The paper concludes that restoring youth dignity through agriculture, rather than imposing productivity targets, is the most sustainable strategy for reducing restiveness and achieving food security in Bayelsa State.

Keywords

youth restivenessrural agricultural sociologyyouth participationfood productivityagricultural policyland tenure

References

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Curbing Youth Restiveness Through Rural Agricultural Sociology for Increased Participation and Food Productivity in Bayelsa State, Nigeria

Abstract

Keywords

References

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