Makama Danjuma Agribusiness Coordinator, Horti Nigeria, has called on government initiative policies make farming attractive to the youths to curb the increasing rate of unemployment and crime.
He also called for the introduction of Agriculture as a compulsory subject in secondary schools.
Danjuma spoke in an interview with journalists on Saturday in Zaria, Kaduna state, at a youth training seminar organised by Horti Nigeria to mark the International Youth Day.
He said the introduction of agriculture as a compulsory subject in secondary schools will go a long way in preparing young people to explore the opportunities in the sector.
According to him, Horti Nigeria, a four- year horticulture sector development programme, funded by the Kingdom of Netherlands (KN), has been in the forefront for building the capacity of youths to embrace farming.
He said the programme which commence in 2021, is being implemented by consortiums led by International Fertilizer Development Centre, East West Seed Knowledge Transfer (EWS-KT), Wageningen University and Research (WUR) and KIT Royal Tropical Institute.
Danjuma said the programme, being implemented in Kaduna, Kano, Ogun and Oyo states, has recorded 85 per cent success adding that more success would have been recorded when it terminates in August 2025.
He explained that the programme aimed at capacity building of youths and women in vegetable farming, innovative technology, exposure to sources of agriculture funding and facilitating business to businesses linkages, among others.
He lamented that the Nigerian farming population is depleting as the old people involved in farming are fading out while the youths are not showing enough interest in farming.
He said the training was part of activities marking the international Youth Day on August 12, but was rescheduled to Saturday, August 17, due to security issues.
“We are creating awareness among the youths on the many opportunities in agriculture.
“The population of Nigeria is over 200 million and 75 per cent of this population are into farming.
“However, out of this, the old people who are mainly involved in farming are fading out.
“We want to create awareness to the youths to embrace agriculture and feed the nation.
“Government should come up with friendly policies to make agriculture attractive.
“I know the government has some funding mechanism for youths, there should be more empowerment programmes for agriculture.
“Agriculture should be made compulsory in schools for students so that they will explore the abundant opportunities in the sector,” he said.
Ealier in his presentation, Zaccheaus Baggi, one of the resource persons and Kaduna state Coordinator, Innovative Youth in Agriculture (IYIA), noted that the agricultural sector is the largest sector that provides employment for the population.
He however lamented that the sector has been neglected and a generation of beggars have been created in Nigeria.
Baggi said, “We have youths that are not coordinated to explore the opportunities in the agricultural sector.
“Farming has gone beyond the cultivation of land. If you go on YouTube, you will see the innovations in the agricultural sector.
“There are many aspects of agriculture that you can engage in. “There are businesses opportunities in processing and preserving agricultural produce, seed production, vegetables, transportation and supply etc.
“This is a wake up call for the youths to embrace agriculture and stop wasting time looking for non existing white collar jobs.
He noted that government policies can make the business environment hostile, “but we shouldn’t sit down iddle because the ecosystem is not viable.”
Narrating how she established her agribusiness company to the participants, Rejoice Usim, founder of Simkay Food Ltd, said she ventured into agribusiness after being jobless for years with much scolding from her father.
