Foundation to award N2m grants to young agripreneurs
The Leventis Foundation Nigeria has announced plans to award N2 million in grants to outstanding young agribusiness owners during its upcoming 2025 Agricultural Youth Summit. The Executive Director of the Foundation, Hope Usieta, made the announcement on Tuesday in Abuja during a press briefing ahead of the summit, which is jointly organized by the Leventis […]
The Leventis Foundation Nigeria has announced plans to award N2 million in grants to outstanding young agribusiness owners during its upcoming 2025 Agricultural Youth Summit.
The Executive Director of the Foundation, Hope Usieta, made the announcement on Tuesday in Abuja during a press briefing ahead of the summit, which is jointly organized by the Leventis Foundation Nigeria and the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC).
Usieta said the grants will go to young agripreneurs who present viable business ideas and pitches during the summit, describing it as a deliberate investment in “youth-led agricultural innovation and entrepreneurship.”
“This initiative is not merely symbolic — it is an investment in the future of Nigeria’s agriculture. We are empowering young people to turn their ideas into thriving agribusinesses,” he said.
The one-day summit, themed “Building Youth and Agripreneurs’ Resilience for Agribusiness through Targeted Upskilling and Innovative Agri-Finance,” is scheduled for November 6, 2025, at Nicon Luxury Hotel, Abuja. It will bring together young farmers, policymakers, financiers, and development partners to discuss strategies for transforming Nigeria’s agricultural landscape.
Participants will engage in workshops, panel sessions, and exhibitions focusing on practical agribusiness skills such as micro and backyard gardening, digital tools for SMEs, product packaging, and business plan development.
Among the key partners facilitating the event are Extension Africa, Business Visa and Training Co. Ltd, the Abuja Enterprise Agency, and SMEDAN.
Usieta emphasized that the Foundation’s goal is to make agribusiness a viable and rewarding career path for Nigerian youth through training, access to finance, and innovative tools.
“Agriculture holds promise. With the right mindset and support, young Nigerians can turn agriculture into a gateway to prosperity,” he said.
The summit will also feature a session on mainstreaming agricultural insurance and discussions on accessible agri-finance for small and medium enterprises in the sector.
Usieta called on public and private sector partners, donor agencies, and investors to collaborate in scaling youth-focused agricultural programs, stressing that collective effort is essential for achieving sustainable impact.
Also speaking, the Director of Skills Acquisition and Entrepreneurship Development (SAED), NYSC, Mr. Kehinde Aremu, said the Corps had recorded “countless success stories” of ex-corps members who became successful farmers after being introduced to agribusiness during their service year.
“We have countless success stories as an organization — stories of corps members and young people who were introduced to agribusiness for the first time through their encounter with the NYSC. Today, many of them are successful farmers,” Aremu said.
He noted that despite these successes, one major challenge persists — access to finance for young entrepreneurs hoping to establish farms after their NYSC training.
“Conventional financing methods in Nigeria cannot sustain modern agricultural practice. That’s why this summit’s focus on innovative financing for agricultural enterprises is both timely and necessary,” he explained.