Informal Institutional Characteristics and Youth Involvement in Agribusiness Entrepreneurship in Fako Division, Cameroon: A Structural Equation Modeling Approach.

Informal Institutional Characteristics and Youth Involvement in Agribusiness Entrepreneurship in Fako Division, Cameroon: A Structural Equation Modeling Approach.

Sonkey Louis Ntu, Bime Mary Juliet Egwu  , and Mbu Daniel Tambi
Department of Agribusiness Technology, College of Technology, University of Bamenda, Cameroon

DOI: https://doi.org/10.47772/IJRISS.2023.7418

 Received: 19 March 2023; Accepted: 29 March 2023; Published: 28 April 2023

ABSTRACT

This study aims at examining the role of informal institutional characteristics on youth involvement in agribusiness entrepreneurship activities in the Fako division of the South West Region of Cameroon. Data were collected with the use of a self-administered questionnaire. Questionnaires were administered using a stratified sampling technique. The target population was youths between the age of 18 to 35 years old who are involved in any agribusiness-related activity for commercial purposes. Questionnaires were administered to a sample of 500 youths but only 451 of the questionnaires were returned without any error. We adopted a partial least square structural equation modeling technique (PLS-SEM) using SamrtPLS4.0. The findings revealed that the custom of the Fako people has a positive relationship with youth involvement in agribusiness entrepreneurship activities in the Fako division (β = 0.230, p < 0.000). However, the attitude of youths toward agricultural-related activities has a negative relationship with youths’ involvement in agribusiness entrepreneurship in the Fako division (β= –0.025, p < 0.560). Meanwhile, land tenure norms/fragmentation have a positive relationship with youths’ involvement in agribusiness entrepreneurship (β = 0.301, p < 0.,000), and traditional non-working days show a positive relationship with youths’ involvement in agribusiness entrepreneurship in Fako (β=0.274, p < 0.000).Serious attention should be given to influencing the attitude of youths toward agribusiness-related activities through sensitization programs such as organizing special agropastoral shows only for young people and other radio and TV programs.

Keywords: Informal Institutions; Agribusiness; Youths Involvement; entrepreneurship; Structural Equation Model.

INTRODUCTION

Engaging youths in agribusiness has become a vital strategy to create employment opportunities for young people. This is because, the number of youths joining the labor market is estimated to be 440 million by 2030 in Africa, presenting an important development challenge for several governments around the world, especially African governments (De Pinto et al., 2017). Unfortunately, the majority of African youths who live in rural areas have limited opportunities for gainful employment (Allen et al., 2016). Notwithstanding, they have untapped potential to transform the agricultural sector through innovation and entrepreneurship (Betcherman et al., 2015). Hence, a serious need for the development of agribusiness systems oriented toward involving young people in agricultural-related businesses. But in achieving this, Africa requires strong institutions according to Bardhan (2007).This is because the primary distinction between the economies of developed and developing countries lies in the differences in their institutional characteristics. Like Coase (2000), quoted by Herrera, Van Huylenbroeck, and Espinel (2005), institutional characteristics are the key to understanding the outcome of economic policy or objectives. Therefore, a nation’s institutions (both formal and informal) can be seen as the mechanism that shapes its economic performance and, in turn, affects youth participation in agribusiness activities. Herrera et al., (2005), concluded that institutional characteristics are vital in the understanding of policies in getting young people involved in agribusiness entrepreneurship in Africa.

Institutions are typically thought of as the rules of the game or human-made limitations that govern how people interact with one another (North, 1990). This definition states that institutions are important for lowering transaction costs, improving information flows, and defining and enforcing property rights by forbidding, permitting, or requiring a particular type of action, be it political, economic, or social. Different authors categorize institutional characteristics in different ways, such as according to whether they are market or non-market institutions (Hu, 2007), whether they move quickly or slowly (Roland, 2004), and whether they are formal or informal (Laiglesia, 2006). However, it is a well-known fact that agribusiness activities are governed not only by formal written regulations (formal institutions) but also by informal institutional characteristics such as; unwritten codes of conduct and restrictions like social standards, customs, and traditional norms, altitudes, and conventions. In this sense, institutions can be divided into two main categories: Formal and informal institutions. Government agencies like the Ministry of Agriculture, the Agrarian Service Center, the Irrigation Department, and rural banks are examples of formal institutions. Meanwhile, mutual trust, culture, attitudes, traditional norms, ethics, customs, religions, and Community Leadership are examples of informal institutional characteristics (Herrera et al., 2005).

More to that, it is still difficult to draw young people to and keep them in the agribusiness sector, especially in Africa and other developing countries. The issue of providing food security for the expanding populations in many emerging nations is compounded by a fall in young people’s interest in agricultural-related activities(Mukembo et al.,2014 & Elders et al., 2015) as cited by Djomo et al, (2019). The mobilization of young people for both agricultural and non-agrarian development initiatives has increased in most industrialized economies. For instance, the use of young people in agriculture by nations like Germany, the Netherlands, the United States of America (USA), the United Kingdom (UK), and Denmark has led to considerable increases in agricultural output and youth empowerment(FAO, 2014), which is far different from the experience in most Africa countries.

According to Valentinov and Baum (2008), the best way to handle youth agribusiness development projects is by improving the institutional environment through effective formal institutions and well-contextualized informal institutions. To understand the long-term effects of the informal institutional quality problem, there isa need to identify the root causes of customs and traditions in Sub-Saharan Africa and the Fako Division in particular. Five factors are identified to contribute to informal institutional quality: custom and traditions; inheritance; non-working traditional days “Country Sunday”; and historical/cultural perspectives (Demetriou, 2013). There is mass respect for traditional non-working days (country Sunday) and “ghost towns” in many towns and villages in Fako Division. The respect for this day greatly reduces agribusiness activities, especially agricultural working days. This tradition of respect for “country Sundays” is what has been from generation to generation, and this negatively affects the agricultural productivity of the people. Another cultural problem influencing agricultural productivity among the youths in the Fako Division is the fact that young people are allowing agribusiness-related activities into the hands of elderly people. This altitude contributed to the little involvement of youths in agribusiness activities in this Division.  Based on the findings of the pilot study that the researcher carried out in the study area, it was discoveredthat informal institutional characteristics, reinforced by the lack of financial services have negatively affected young women and men. Thus, reducing the number of them engagingin agribusiness entrepreneurship activities. More to that, the problem is further reinforced by the image problem of agricultural-related activities in this area. Many young people see agribusiness-related activities as dirty and unattractive(Ongang & Odhiambo, 2021).

The main question guiding this research work is; what is the role of informal institutional qualityon youths’ involvement in agribusiness entrepreneurship activities in the Fako Division? The main contribution of this paper lay in the fact that the majority of past research has been done mainly on formal institutional quality where secondary data from World Governance indicators have been used for empirical investigation. In the same light, the focus has been on institutional quality and agricultural productivity and not youth agribusiness entrepreneurship. Also, past studies on informal institutional quality are very few in the literature without a good robust analytical technique to capture the effect of informal institutional qualities.  This present study handles informal institutional qualities in terms of custom, land tenure laws/fragmentation, traditions and traditional non-working days, and also the altitude of youths, which most researchers have not captured in literature as recommended by Putnam (1993), cited in Jordaan et al.,(2008). Above all, we intend to use a partial least square structural equation model to analyze the effect of informal institutional quality on youths’ involvement in agribusiness, this is to verify the accuracy of past findings and provide a more robust and quantitative empirical approach.

REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE

The term “agribusiness” refers to businesses engaged in producing, distributing, and selling goods and services associated with agriculture, horticulture, floriculture, sericulture, aquaculture, and animal husbandry. This is regarded as one of the most important sectors to lower the rising rate of young graduates without jobs in African nations because of Africa’s untapped potential to revolutionize the agricultural industry through innovation and entrepreneurship (Betcherman et al, 2015). To encourage young people to participate in agribusiness and other rural economic activities, governments and development partners have been implementing various interventions and creating various organizations for several years. However, there are few suggestions on what worked and what did not work well (Yami, et al.,2019), making it hard to advise evidence-based policymaking.  Many authors have identified the failure of some of these government engagements in Africa from different perspectives. Some see it as emanating from the government agency (formal institutions) themselves while others see it as originating from the local communities (informal institutional characteristics). Meanwhile, others believe is a market and financial problem (Ibrahim Forum, 2011).

FAO (2007) argued further that ineffective agricultural development in developing countries is caused by several institutional failures, which include, among others, a lack of credit, challenges obtaining foreign exchange, a lack of risk management and price formation mechanisms, poor transport infrastructure, and, occasionally, marketing and management deficiencies. Therefore, it is thought that overall agricultural development policy is influenced by both formal and informal institutional characteristics in addition to economic elements like capital, land, labor, and water. However, little research has been done on the effect of informal institutions on agricultural development and youth engagement in agribusiness activities (Karmakar et al., 2022).

Empirically, Dayat et al., (2020) in their research aimed at descriptively analyzing and discovering the factors influencing rural youths’ participation in Chili agribusiness, concluded that the majority of respondents rated participation, interests, business capacity, and external factors of rural youth as moderate. The average age of rural youth was 31.47 years old, the majority was still in elementary school, and most have never been involved in organizations, or had never had internships/courses/training, however, cosmopolitan behavior was in the high category. The participation of rural youth in agriculture was influenced by age, cosmopolitan, external factors (government, agricultural extension workers, families, and market support), interests, and capacity.

Meanwhile, Geza et al., (2021), stated that providing economic opportunities for youths in agriculture is essential to securing the future of agriculture in Africa and addressing poverty, unemployment, and inequality. Their findings showed that existing agricultural interventions are production-centric and provide low-income earnings and inadequate social protection. They also found that youths have pessimistic perceptions about agriculture’s capability of improving their living standards. This could be ascribed to the minimal youth involvement in agribusiness activities. From a policy perspective, their literature revealed that current agricultural development programs do not adequately address structural issues underpinning youth participation in the economy. Therefore, to enhance the involvement of youths in agriculture, they recommended a need for policy implementation in the area of integrated agricultural-based interventions that are context-specific and promote meaningful youth participation in shaping future food systems.

Similarly, Kpognon et al., (2022),research is s, aimed at exploring how training experiences in agriculture can be tailored to improve the prospects of low-qualified, rural youths who are neither in employment nor education or training (NEET) being involved in agribusiness. They conducted two sequential qualitative studies in the Azores Islands, a remote and mostly rural Portuguese region, using a Participatory Action Research (PAR) approach. Study 1 showed that low-qualified rural NEETs depict negative perceptions about agriculture. These negative perceptions are similar, in content, to those reported in other studies by youths originating in (sub)urban areas. Study 2 highlighted that a strong participatory stand to design and run agriculture training has the potential to tailor packages that improve outreach to these youths. Furthermore, it prevents their negative representations and tackles the mismatch between the training offered and local economic opportunities.

Finally, the main justification for the importance of informal institutions in economic activity, such as getting young people into agribusiness, is that it lowers transaction costs. Since formal institutions are frequently lacking or in poor condition in developing nations, especially in their rural agricultural sectors, informal institutions become more important by actively reducing transaction costs along the entire agricultural value chain (Athayde, 2009). To understand how to overcome all the challenges facing the rural agricultural sector of developing countries, it is crucial to analyze the role played by informal institutional qualities in the process of agricultural expansion through the involvement of youth in agribusiness (Uduji & Okolo-Obasi, 2022).As a result, many economists and other social scientists have come to the opinion that the effectiveness of informal institutions affects the behavior and evolution of formal institutions. For instance, Forsyth and Southworth, (2008) pointed out that neither the economics nor the technology of industrial civilizations can be simply transported to emerging countries whose traditional cultures have little in common with modern large-scale economic organizations or scientific notions.

Conclusively, following the review of the related literature on youth involvement in agribusiness entrepreneurship, the following four hypotheses in their alternative form will guide this study.

• H1: Custom and tradition influence youths’ involvement in agribusiness entrepreneurship in the Fako division.
• H2: Land Tenure Norms influence youths’ involvement in agribusiness entrepreneurship in the Fako division.
• H3: Traditional Non-working Days influence youths’ involvement in agribusiness entrepreneurship in the Fako division.
• H4: The attitude of youth toward agriculture influences youths’ involvement in agribusiness entrepreneurship in the Fako division.

MATERIAL AND METHOD

Description of Study Area

With a population of 534.854 people living in the communes of Buea, Limbe, Tiko, Muyuka, and Idena, Fako division is one of the divisions that make up the South West Region of Cameroon with a total area of 2093 km² (Tageo, 2015). Largely due to the presence of universities and colleges, the division’s population increased to over 200.000 by 2012. A major increase in infrastructural development has been observed as a result of the division’s expanding population, particularly in the Buea sub-division. Limbe, the coastal town that serves as the Fako division’s seat and is home to the Atlantic Ocean’s sandy beach, is a popular tourist destination (Tageo, 2015). The Meme and Mungo divisions of the littoral area, which is a portion of French-speaking Cameroon, share administrative borders with the Fako division. The division is located at 4° 10′ 00″ north latitude and 9° 10′ 00″ east longitude (Geographic, 2015).

Subsistence farming is the main type of agriculture practiced in the division. Plantains, cocoyams, maize, groundnuts, cassava, yams, and beans are the main crops farmed. Slash-and-burn farming is also practiced. In the Fako division, plantation agriculture is particularly dominant in addition to subsistence farming. Bananas, cocoa, coffee, and rubber are all cultivated for commercial purposes. The Cameroon Development Corporation (CDC), which is Cameroon’s second-largest employer after the government, oversees these plantations, which currently occupy a total of 41,000 hectares of land, 38,000 of which are mature and in the production stage. The company employs around 15,700 people in total, including temporary workers, making it the second largest employer after the government of Cameroon (CDC Cameroon, 2015). In addition to agriculture, the division engages in commercial endeavors, particularly the marketing of local dishes. One of the breadbaskets of Cameroon, Chad, the Central African Republic, and Equatorial Guinea is the Muea Market, which is located in the Buea subdivision (Buea Council, 2015).

Data Collection

The target population for the study was derived from the Fako Division in the South West Region of Cameroon. The study focused on the seven main sub-divisions in this division that is Buea, Limbe (I, II, and III), Tiko, West Coast (Debundscha), and Muyuka. The population of the study consisted of youths aged 18-35 who are presently involved in any agribusiness-related activity for commercial purposes. The total population of the Fako Division is about 534854 people and about 80% of this population isinvolved in agricultural-related activities (Ngulle et al., 2015).To determine the final sample size, a stratified sampling technique was adopted in the study, where eachsub-divisions in Fako made up a stratum, and questionnaires were self-administered to the youths selected from each of the strata. These youths were reached out through their registered youth agribusiness groups. Information about registered youth agribusiness groups was gotten from the subdivisional Delegations of Agriculture and Rural Development.  The sample size was determined using the Robert Slovin technique for sample determination (Slovin,1960)as follows.

n =N/1+ Ne²

Whereby:

n = sample size

N= Total Population.

e = is the standard error at 5%

Thus, the Population involved in agricultural-related activities (Agribusiness) = 0.8 X 534854 = 427,883.2.

Hence, n = 427,883.2/1+ 427,883.2(0.05)² = 402. Hence a good representative sample size should be at least 402. We added 98 to the sample size to raise it to n=500. This is to give a better representative sample. After calculating the sample needed for the study, the sample size was distributed based on the size of the sub-divisions (stratum) as followings;

Table 1: Sample Size Distribution

Source: Author (2022)

The study’s primary data was gathered through a structured self-administered questionnaire. The respondents were asked to rate some statements on a five-point Likert scale rating where 1- will indicate that respondents Strongly Agree, 2-Agree, 3-Neutral, Disagree and 5-Strongly Disagree about what was described in the statement. While other responses were on a scale of two based on YES (1) and NO (2). The questionnaire was made up of three sections; with section, “A” capturing demographic information such as educational experience, marital status, age, and years of experience, meanwhile section “B” were items on youths’ involvement in agribusiness entrepreneurship such as the level of involvement (Very involve=primary occupation and Fairly involve= Secondary occupation), type of activities (input distribution, farm/animal production, processing or marketing of agribusiness product), level of satisfaction and formal or no formal training. The last sections captured items on informal institutional quality such as custom and tradition, non-working days, the attitude of youths toward agribusiness-related activities, and land tenure norms and fragmentation.  Items in the questionnaire were adopted and contextualised from past related studies(Eric,2020, &Djomo et al, 2019). Piloting was done through the administration of 20 questionnaires to youths involved in agribusiness out of our primary study area.This was to improve the quality of the research instrument by assisting the researchers in identifying parts of the research instruments that were confusing in delivering pertinent information. Where necessary, the item was modified. Also, the researchers submitted the questionnaire to other experts for criticism and thorough cross-examination of the various items in the questionnaire.

Model Specification and Conceptual Framework

The indicators of agribusiness entrepreneurship involvement are used to develop the dependent construct of youth involvement in agribusiness, and the informal institutional qualities construct alongside their indicators was used to develop independent variables of informal institutional quality, this is in line with the New institutions Economists (NIE) theories and  North (1990), who claim that informal institutions affect the performance of any economic variable that is traditions, custom, norms, land laws and altitude are all qualities that make upinformal institutional quality. Concerning our research context, we adopted four components (constructs) of informal institutional quality that is; Customs, Land Tenure Norms, Traditional non-working days, and the Altitude of youths. The Ministry of Information and Culture of Nigeria (1988), cited by Eric (2020), combined culture, customs, and traditions to describe culture as the entirety of the way of life that people have formed to handle the obstacles existing in their environment. This separates a people from their neighbors by giving structure and significance to their social, political, economic, artistic, and religious standards and ways of organization. Arizpe, (2015) stated that “tradition is the term given to those cultural characteristics which, in conditions of change, were to be continued to be handed down, pondered about, kept, and not lost.” Fako division observes traditional non-working days, which have many myths associated with them. Meanwhile, it is also believed that cultural norms incorporate people’s attitudes toward certain activities hence, we adopt the attitude of youths, and their perception or view of agricultural-related activities.

Youth involvement (YI) = f (Informal institutional quality) …………………………………… (1)

From equation (1) above, it is considered that YI, is a function of informal institutional qualities such as custom and traditions (CT), Land Tenure Norms (LTN), Traditional Non-working Days (TND), and Attitude of youth towards agriculture (AYB) as seen in equation (2) below:

YI = f (LTN, TNWD, CUS, AOY) ………………………………………………………….… (2)

The econometric equation for the model can be stated as follows given the significance of the intersect coefficients to be calculated and the error term.

YI = β₀ + β₁LTF + β₂TNWD + β₃AYB + β₄ CT + Ɛi………………………………………………. (3)

This equation is represented in the following conceptual SEM-PLS model below

Where;

All the constructs of LTN, TNWD, AOY, and CUS are captured by a set of questions on a Likert scale.

β_1, β_2, β_3,and β_4, are the path coefficients to be estimated. The expected signs of these coefficients can either be negative or positive.

Estimation Techniques

The variables of youth involvement in agribusiness entrepreneurship activities (YI) are qualitatively measured using its reflexive (manifest) variables due to its multifaceted nature while the informal institutional qualities are measured in terms of the various constructs of institutional qualities which are very related to culture and traditional norms of the people with each of the types having its reflexive manifests. Since all the variables of the model are multifaceted in nature, the estimation technique adopted by this model is the Partial Least Square Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM) (Ringle et al.,2012).

Here, we start by evaluating the model using different criteria such as; convergent validity, which measures the degree of relatedness of items to the construct they specify. To achieve this, the PLS algorithm is generated and indicator (item) regression loads are checked for the level of significance from their calculated t-values compared to the table’s critical t-values. The outer model t-statistics in the output section of the bootstrapped results are also consulted for convergent validity. Also, we obtain the cross-loading, cross-loading means that all the loadings of an indicator on its corresponding construct should have a larger magnitude than any other loading with any other construct across the rows and down the columns. By contrasting the cross-loadings with the absolute value of 0.100 taken from the loadings on the major concept, discriminant validity is confirmed. It is determined that there is substantial discriminant validity between indicators in the measurement model if additional indicators and their related latent variables behave similarly (Chin, 1998). Discriminant validity can also be proven by contrasting the square root of the average variance extracted (AVE) to the correlations with other constructs. According to Lowry & Gaskin (2014), the AVE square root is utilized rather than the AVE itself because a construct’s correlation with its measurement indicators should be stronger than its correlation with any other construct. Strong discriminant validity is demonstrated when each diagonal value (square root of AVE) is higher than the off-diagonal value for the same row and column. This supports the decision to keep the various elements on the scale in the final model.

Above all, Cronbach’s alpha (1951) and composite reliability are employed as indicators of how well-behaved theoretical models are internal. Values around or over the cut-off point (0.70) imply that the model has a high level of internal consistency and is likely to produce stable and consistent measurements over time. Fornell & Larcker (1981) contend that the measure of composite reliability is a superior statistic for measuring structural model reliability. Models with good composite reliability primarily meet the Fornell & Larcker (1981) cut-off point of more than 0.70. Finally, we end up with the predictive Relevance of the model, which is an assessment of the accuracy of the adjusted model. These two indices are obtained through a jack-knifing (blind-folding) analysis procedure. The effect size is read from the communality estimates (CV Com) of each latent construct. The predictive relevance is read from the redundancy estimates (CV Red) of each latent construct.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS

This section begins with a presentation of the estimated structural equation model using SmartPLS4.0, follow by model evaluation, the effect of independent constructs on the dependent construct, hypothesis testing, and predictive relevance.

Structural Equation Model

Figure 1: Structural Equation Model of Consistent PLS Algorithm

Source: Field Survey, (2022)

The figure above is the structural equation model computed from SmartPLS4 using a consistent PLS algorithm for reflective models. The model is made of up five constructs with the youth involvement variable as the endogenous construct. Each construct is made up of indicators and their effect on the overall construct. The constructs are linked by path coefficients, showing the relationship between the exogenous construct and the endogenous construct. We remove any indicator that had a negative or values below 0.3 to improve the efficiency of the model. The elimination of an indicator cannot change the overall outcome of the construct because it is a reflective model (Hair et al.,2014).

Model Evaluation

Before validating the model’s output in structural equation modeling, a model must pass through some preliminary model evaluation tests. Three main model evaluation tests include; construct reliability, convergent validity, and discriminant validity of the constructs are used to test the efficiency and trustworthiness of partial least square structural equation models.

Construct Reliability and Convergent Validity

Table 2: Construct Reliability and convergent Validity

Source: Field Survey (2022)

Construct reliability, which measures the internal consistency of the model’s constructs, is the first measurement model evaluation test. To assess the construct’s internal consistency, we either utilize Cronbach’s alpha or composite reliability. A given construct’s internal consistency is calculated using composite reliability. To attain construct reliability, the values of composite reliability and Cronbach Alpha for each construct must be more than 0.70 (Hair et al., 2014). As per our findings, all of the constructs’ Cronbach alpha values and composite reliability values are above the cut-off point of 0.7, as shown in the table above. As a result, our model exhibits a high degree of internal consistency.

The second test was to verify the convergent validity of the construct, which tries to verify the degree of agreement in two or more indicators of the same construct. This is to be sure that the indicators of each construct jointly converge to measure the construct. The convergent validity of the construct was obtained through average variance extracted (AVE). According to Chin (1998),the benchmark value of AVE should be 0.50 for the convergent validity of a construct. The result reveals that there is evidence of convergent validity since the AVE of all constructs is above the 0.5 threshold value. Though Custom and youths’ involvement constructs have values just slightly above the threshold value. Thus, the model validates convergent validity, meaning that all indicators of the various constructs are in agreement in measuring the various constructs in the model.

Discriminate Validity

Table 3: Heterotrait-Monotrait Ratio (HTMT)

Source: Field Survey, (2022)

The third test was to verify discriminate validity, this is to check the extent to which one construct discriminates or differs from other constructs in the model. This was tested by the use of the Heterotrait-Monotriat ratio (HTMT). According to this test, the threshold value of HTMT between the constructs in the model should be less than 0.90. Table. shows that the measurement model has met this criterion since all the values of HTMT between all the constructs are below 0.9.

The result for discriminate validity was further confirmed by the Fornell-Larker criterion. According to this criterion, the value of the square root of the AVE of the latent construct must be greater than or beat the correlation for the same construct. From the Fornell and Larker criterion table below, all the constructs have a high correlation value between the construct itself (diagonal elements) and a lower correlation value (off-diagonal values in the corresponding rows and columns) with another construct in the model. Hence, there is a high level of discriminate validity.

Table4: Fornell-Larcker Criterion

Source: Field Survey, (2022)

Thus, from the above tests, the measurement model has justified all the requirements.

Results of Bootstrapped (Path Coefficient with Levels of Significance)

In the next stage, the structural model was calculated. The statistical significance of the measurement model was calculated using bootstrapping technique with 5,000 re-samples. The Figure below shows the structural model evaluation.

Figure 4.2: Model of Consistent Bootstrapping

Source: Field Survey, note: values in bracket are P-values of path coefficient

The outcomes of the calculated model using bootstrapping reveal that custom has a positive significant relationship with youth involvement in agribusiness entrepreneurship activities in the Fako division (β = 0.230, p< 0.000), meaning that the custom of the Fako people concerning agribusiness development and youths’ engagement are friendly and encouraging. However, the attitude of youths toward agricultural-related activities has a negative relationship with youths’ involvement in agribusiness entrepreneurship in the Fako division (β = –0.025, p< 0.560), though it is statistically insignificant. Meaning that, the attitude youths have toward agricultural-related activities is a hindrance to them involving in agribusiness entrepreneurship in Fako, hence there is a serious need fora mindset change in the path of the youths.

Meanwhile, land tenure norms/fragmentation have a positive relationship with youths’ involvement in agribusiness entrepreneurship (β = –0.301, p< 0.000). Meaning that land tenure norms and land fragmentation among youths in Fako encourage youths’ involvement in agribusiness entrepreneurship. While results of traditional non-working days also show a positive relationship with youths’ involvement in agribusiness entrepreneurship in Fako (β = –0.274, p< 0.000). Most processing of agricultural products is done on traditional non-working days and ghost town days, thus having a positive effect on youths’ involvement in agribusiness in Fako. Above all, all the indicators of the constructs are significant with a p_value =0.000, meaning that they significantly contribute to the outcome of the constructs.

Verification of Hypotheses

Table5: Path coefficients and P-values

 Source: Field Survey (2022)

The table shows that three hypotheses were supported by the result, that is custom, land tenure/fragmentation, and traditional non-working days on youths’ involvement in agribusiness. We are rejecting all three null hypotheses of no effect on youths’ involvement in agribusiness entrepreneurship in the Fako division and conclude that these three constructs have a positive significant relationship withyouths’ involvement in agribusiness entrepreneurship. However, one hypothesis does not support our assumption: the altitude of youths and youths’ involvement in agribusiness. Hence, we do not reject the null hypothesis and conclude that the altitude of youths negatively insignificantly affects youths’ involvement in agri business entrepreneurship in Fako.

Predictive Relevance of Model

Table6: Q² Predict Values

Source: Field Survey, (2022)

Finally, a better method than blindfolding was used to assess the model’s prediction power: Shmueli et al., (2016) are criteria. For cross-validation, a training sample and a holdout sample are required per the rules. Cross-validation was performed using PLSPredict by randomly dividing the sample into folds (subsets). K = 10 was recommended by Shmueli et al., (2019) for the creation of subgroups. The outcomes include Q2 prediction, mean absolute error, and root mean squared error (RMSE). Here, we use Q2 prediction values to assess the model’s predictive capability. Hair et al., (2014) assert that the Q2 predicted values for the endogenous construct indicators must be greater than zero for a model to be predictively useful. The Q2 values in the table are above 0.00. Therefore, the model has a strong predictive relevance or performance.

DISCUSSIONS

Our results of the measurement model of our structural model of informal institutional quality using partial least square estimation validated all the necessary model evaluation tests for partial least square on SmartPLS4. Here, we discuss our results concerning our main objective, which was to determine the effect of informal institutional qualities (Custom and Tradition, Land tenure norms/fragmentation, Traditional non-working days, and Altitude of youths toward agricultural-related activities) on youth involvement in agribusiness-entrepreneurship in Fako division.

The findings, the result revealed that informal institutional qualities have mixedeffects on youth engagement in agribusiness entrepreneurship activities in the Fako division. From the results, customs and traditions in the Fako division have a positive effect on youths’ involvement in agribusiness entrepreneurship. Meaning that the custom of the Fako people does not discourage the development of agribusiness institutions for youths. This result contradicts past studies on the effect of custom and tradition on agricultural-related activities. For example, the study contradicts the work of Eric, (2020) who carried out research on the effect of culture and tradition on agricultural productivity in Bamenda III in the North West Region of Cameroon and concluded that custom and tradition hurt agricultural production and related activities. The case in the Fako division may be different because most ofthe Fako have been influenced by urbanization, which has affected people’s level of embracing new ideas and diverting away from some negative customs and traditional beliefs.

Also, the results show that land tenure law and fragmentation positively influence youths’ engagement in agribusiness entrepreneurship in Fako. The belief is that most families in Fako are willing to give out family lands for youths who are interested to involve in agricultural-related activities. Here, family land is often fragmented among the youths in the family to give access to everyone. This has encouraged some youths toengage in agribusinesses such as cocoa, plantain, yam, cassava, tomatoes, cocoyam, maize production, and livestock rearing such as poultry, snails, and mushroom farms. Similarly, traditional non-working days influence youths’ involvement in agribusiness positively. It is revealed that most processing of agricultural products is carried out on non-traditional working days like “country Sunday” and ghost town days. Also, most urban and rural dwellers in Fako do not respect the observation of traditional non-working days. In fact, in the Fako division, vehicles travel all over Fako even on ghost town days, and also businesses are often operational as compared to other divisions in the English-speaking part of Cameroon facing a similar situation of ghost town brought about by the current anglophone crisis, which started since 2017. Our research on land tenure norms and fragmentation contradicts Justine et al., (2011) contention that youths have limited access to land because parents typically hold title to the property they utilize for agricultural output. But for the past years, most African countries are changing their land tenure laws to give more access to youths (Tadele and Gella, 2012).

Above all, the finding revealed that the attitude of youths toward agricultural-related activities has a negative influence on youth involvement in agribusiness entrepreneurship activities in the Fako division. The results were confirmed by our descriptive where the majority reported that youths see agricultural-related activities as dirty and non-lucrative. This result conforms with much past research, where the attitude of youths toward agricultural-related activities in Africa has posed a serious challenge to their government in their effort to engage them inagricultural-related activities. For example, Anyidoho, (2012) in a study claimed that young people generally do not have a good attitude toward agricultural production-related activities. They think it’s something people do if they’re immigrants in the area or from abroad if they don’t do well in school, or as a side job to support other non-farm activities. Also, Agwu et al., (2012) further supported this finding by uncovering that young people do not believe agricultural-related activities can provide the working conditions, wages, and lifestyles they desire and anticipate in the twenty-first century. Even in rural places, they yearn for the modern, technologically advanced lifestyles that are only possible in cities. As a result, they view agribusiness as a poor person’s occupation that cannot provide them with the life they deserve. Thus, informal institutional qualities in the Fako division are strong enough to support agribusiness development and youths’ engagement in agribusiness entrepreneurship but the greatest problem in achieving these objectives is emanating from the youths themselves, which is their altitude, and perceptions toward agricultural-related activities.

CONCLUSION

We discovered that the various informal institutional qualities in Fako such as custom, land tenure, and traditional non-working days are friendly to the development and engagement of youths in agribusiness entrepreneurship in the Fako division but the altitude of youths toward agribusiness-related activities is the major hindrance. In line with these findings on informal institutional quality and youths’ involvement in agribusiness entrepreneurship in the Fako division, it is recommended that the number of nontraditional working days “Country Sunday” should be reduced or maintained on official Sundays observe all over the world. This will help increase the number of days of work and will go a long way to increase agro pastoral productivity. Also, serious attention should be paid to influencing the altitude of youths toward agribusiness-related activities through sensitization programs such as organizing special agro pastoral shows only for young people and launching radio and TV programs to advertise the opportunities in agribusiness for young people living in Fako.

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