ISSN: 2474-8846
Authors: Ewane D* , Ewane EEE , Ndam LM , Eyong ET , Anumoh M , Mvondo- Awono JP , Anyizi BN , Itoe SM , Nghonjuyi NW and Oben PM
The global consensus suggests that traditional agricultural education in developing economies is insufficient to meet competitive workforce demands, often leading to graduate unemployment. This paper details the design, implementation, and initial outcomes of integrating a high-fidelity Student Business Incubator (SBI) approach into a Master's degree in Livestock Production at the University of Buea (UB), Cameroon. The UB-LPA-SBI is an experiential model where postgraduate students (N=20 over two cohorts) execute a profit-and-loss broiler production business plan on campus. This innovative approach aims to shift agricultural education from theoretical instruction to experiential agripreneurship training to foster Entrepreneurial Intention (EI). Initial financial analysis using business cycle data confirmed a successful proof of concept: students successfully generated an average entrepreneurial reward of USD 76.05 (Cohort 1) and USD 70.66 (Cohort 2) after repaying seed capital loans and interest. Critical implementation hurdles included reconciling rigid university/ state procurement systems with commercial demands and managing external market risks (e.g., farm raid). The study presents one of the first empirically documented cases of embedding a high-fidelity business incubator model directly within an African state university's agricultural curriculum. The model provides a practical framework for African Higher Education Institutions to produce job creators by aligning training with economic competitiveness, though it highlights the critical necessity of securing financial autonomy to overcome institutional rigidities and scale the operation to a commercially viable level.
Keywords: Agripreneurial Intention; Experiential Learning; Business Incubator; Youth Employment; Livestock Production; Higher Education Policy
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