Abstract: The global gender discourse has placed more emphasis on women empowerment. However, when issues concerning adolescents are raised, both boys and girls should be integrated. This is because the same power that patriarchy is believed to have given men, hurts men as well, especially adolescent boys. In rural Nigeria, adolescents between the ages of 15 to 17 years have faced many challenges that prevent them from taking up agricultural employment and agricultural vocational education. This review shows that adolescent girls get less education than boys due to early marriage, and are less likely to visit farms due to the insurgency. On the other hand, the drudgery that is associated with agriculture and the passion for an urban life have made adolescent boys more likely to migrate to the urban areas, thus, placing vocational agricultural education as a fallback option for them. The study also reveals that unemployed youths can engage in socially unacceptable behavior. Fortunately, the youth empowerment programs available in the country provide opportunities for the government to include them in economic activities. It is therefore recommended that the government should recognize this age group as an economic member of the society, and take a strong stand against the insurgency, thus treating security as a real issue that continues to deny young women of empowerment. Nevertheless, more research is being called to find ways to mobilize adolescents for agriculture engagement.
Keywords: Gender, Agriculture, Vocational Agricultural Education, Adolescent, Nigeria.
Title: The Gendered Challenges Faced By Rural Nigerian Adolescents (15 to17 years) in Agriculture and Vocational Education
Author: Chinedu.T. Obi, Tamika A. Peart
International Journal of Social Science and Humanities Research
ISSN 2348-3156 (Print), ISSN 2348-3164 (online)
Research Publish Journals
