Assessing youth-focused agricultural advisory initiatives for promoting agri-entrepreneurship and rural livelihood opportunities

Abstract

In Hokkaido, a 24-year-old graduate turned a small vegetable plot into a profitable organic business after completing a youth extension program. This research evaluated youth-focused advisory initiatives across four prefectures in Japan (May 2021 to October 2022), assessing agri-entrepreneurship competencies and rural livelihood opportunities among 324 participants aged 18-35. Pre-post comparisons revealed significant improvements across all seven competency dimensions, with business planning (+30.2 points) and digital literacy (+26.1 points) showing the largest gains. Program completers showed 45.2% agri-entrepreneurship initiation rates. Competency building and network formation emerged as the primary mechanisms.