Resilience of Youth Farmers’ from Individual Capabilities Perspective : An Integrative Literature Review

Abstract

The agricultural sector plays an important and vital role in a nations’ economic growth, and regeneration of related businesses is a major challenge. In recent times, working in this sector is assumed to be synonymous with village life and poverty. Therefore, the increasingly heavy life demands and dynamic lifestyle requires encouraging the individuals’ effort, in order to achieve resilience. This condition prompts the migration of many villagers, especially the younger generation to the city, and obtain work in other sectors. However, some young people remain and survive in the rural setting. Therefore this study is aimed at designing a model to be used as a reference in exploring factors influencing the survival of youth farmers in the agricultural sector. Literature review was used with an integrative approach to answer the study problems. This involved studying research articles, books, and other published texts, in an attempt to produce a framework on the resilience of youth farmers' from the individual capabilities perspective. The results show the contribution of individual characteristics, social support, spiritual/belief/culture, and human capital development towards individual capability improvement, and consequently influence resilience. The model produced is expected to serve as a framework for qualitative research, to identify the influencing factors. Furthermore, the findings are also to be added in literatures on resilience, in order to provide guidance for all interested parties. This is potentially required in maintaining the agricultural sector, as a mainstay for sustained food needs in the wider community.