The study set out to understand the challenges and prospects of the youth who engaged in agriculture in the rural Ethiopia. The study also tried to understand the socio-economic conditions of youth, youths’ perception of agriculture, and pull and push factors to and away from agriculture. To this end, a qualitative research approach was employed to collect and analyze data relevant to meet the study objectives. In-depth interview and observation were the major methods employed to collect the data. The finding of the study revealed that the youths are found themselves in poor socio-economic conditions since they do not have the necessary assets such as land, finance and agricultural equipment which are helpful for agricultural activities. The finding also showed that better prospects to change, market accessibility, easiness to join and conducive environment for farming are pull factors that attracted youths to join in to the sector. The data also revealed that agricultural activities of the youths were constrained by different factors such as land in accessibilities, lack of government support, livestock diseases, lack of adequate knowledge of agriculture and absence of interest and motivation on behalf of the youths. Furthermore, the data showed that the interviewees have both positively and negatively perceive agriculture in line with the situation they are in.

Keywords: Agriculture; Youth; Rural; Challenge; Prospect