<p>Community gardens and youth-based
programs in urban agriculture have potential to engage youth, especially
minorities, in personal development, community building, and healthy eating
promotion. This research study explored the role of urban agriculture at the
Felege Hiywot Center (FHC), in promoting life skills, entrepreneurship, and
healthy eating intentions among minority youth engaging in its programs. The
study employed a mixed methods approach through surveys (n=24) and
semi-structured interviews (n=10). The Theory of Planned Behavior (Ajzen, 1991;
Fishbein, 2000) served as the conceptual framework with three predictive
variables to life skills, entrepreneurship, and healthy eating intentions.
Community partnerships, program structure, and individual background factors
were measured, and relationships between life skills and entrepreneurship were
explored. Results obtained from the analysis for both surveys and interviews
indicate that participation in FHC promotes life skills, entrepreneurship, and
healthy eating intentions for minority youth who engage in its programs.
Overall, participants acknowledged the role of volunteers, professionals,
sponsors, FHC structure, and individual background factors in promoting life
skills, entrepreneurship, and healthy eating intentions. Qualitative data
reports more in-depth descriptions of minority youth’s experiences at FHC’s
youth program that impacted their daily lives and career decisions. Quantitative
and qualitative results highlighted the leadership at the Felege Hiywot Center
as particularly influential This research study contributes to the literature on
the impacts of urban agriculture youth programs that incorporate experiential
learning, farm-based education, and student centered-learning with youth
development philosophies. The study also generated a conceptual framework that shows
the interactions of different factors that lead to intentions. The results from
this study support and extend prior research that suggests positive, lasting
impacts from youth-based programs in urban agriculture.</p>
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:purdue.edu/oai:figshare.com:article/12728618 |
| Date | 28 July 2020 |
| Creators | Theoneste Nzaranyimana Jr (9178679) |
| Source Sets | Purdue University |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Text, Thesis |
| Rights | CC BY 4.0 |
| Relation | https://figshare.com/articles/thesis/Exploration_of_the_Role_of_an_Urban_Farming_Program_in_Promoting_Youth_s_Life_Skills_Entrepreneurship_and_Healthy_Eating_Intentions_for_Minority_Youth_Attending_Felege_Hiywot_Center_Indianapolis/12728618 |
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