Occupational Competencies Required by Secondary School Leavers in Rice Production and Marketing for Sustainable Development in Benue State, Nigeria

Abstract

This study identified occupational competencies required by secondary school leavers in rice production and marketing for sustainable development in Benue State, Nigeria. Three research questions and three hypotheses guided the study. A descriptive survey research 
design was used for the study. The population for the study was 420. The entire population was used for the study. A 51-item questionnaire was used for data collection. The instrument was validated by five experts. Cronbach-Alpha reliability coefficient of 0.87 
was obtained. Four hundred and twenty copies of the questionnaire were administered to the respondents by the researchers with the help of research assistants. Four hundred and ten-copies of the questionnaire were retrieved and analyzed using mean, standard 
deviation, and t-test. It was found that secondary school leavers required 18 competencies in land and nursery preparation, 19 competencies in planting and weed control, and 14 competencies in harvesting and marketing of rice. It was recommended that the secondary school leavers in Benue State should be trained by skill acquisition centres in rice production using the identified competencies among others for the sustainable development of secondary school leavers.