Youth Exclusion from Community Savings Groups: Intergenerational Asset Inequality and Agricultural Transition in South Sudan

Youth participation in community savings and lending groups matters because agricultural transition in South Sudan depends on whether younger farmers can access savings discipline, affordable loans, productive knowledge, and the social recognition needed to invest in land, seed, tools, and market-oriented production. This article converts a doctoral mixed-methods study of Community Group Saving and Lending (CGSL) mechanisms in Eastern Equatoria, Jonglei, and Lakes States into a youth-sensitive analysis of intergenerational asset inequality and agricultural transition. The original study collected 81 valid questionnaire responses from 85 targeted respondents and 17 qualitative interviews. The age profile showed that only 5 respondents (6%) were below 25 years, while 29 respondents (36%) were aged 26-30 and 27 respondents (33%) were aged 31-35. Therefore, the sample was heavily concentrated in young-adult and early-middle adult farming cohorts, but the very youngest entrants were thinly represented. CGSL membership stood at 43 respondents (53%), while 38 respondents (47%) were non-members. The strongest financial findings were that rural finance can make a difference in agricultural productivity (overall mean = 4.58), savings are important for poverty reduction (mean = 4.51), productivity rises through investment (mean = 4.49), and government-donor collaboration is needed (mean = 4.41). At the same time, scarcity of working capital was the highest barrier (mean = 4.68), modern agricultural technology was perceived as capital intensive (mean = 4.30), and long-term investment in land, machinery and infrastructure was weak (mean = 3.51). Hypothesis testing confirmed a significant association between CGSL participation and agricultural productivity (χ² = 15.92, p = 0.0001), while logistic regression showed that access to credit significantly influenced investment in modern agricultural technologies (β = 1.9459, p = 0.026). The article argues that youth exclusion should not be understood only as physical absence from groups. It is also produced through low initial savings capacity, weak asset inheritance, limited land control, lower decision-making voice, short-term loan cycles, and the inability of small pooled funds to finance long-term agricultural transition. The article recommends youth windows within CGSLs, starter savings products, intergenerational mentorship, transparent membership rules, youth-sensitive loan appraisal, and linkage finance that protects group trust while expanding productive capital.