Gombe College trains 525 rural women, youths on agriculture

The Federal College of Horticulture, Dadin Kowa in Gombe State, said it has trained women and youths from Balanga, Billiri, Kaltungo and Shongom LGAs of the state on agricultural production and management. The Provost of the college, Professor Fatima BJ Sawa, who disclosed this yesterday, said no fewer than 525 women and youths participated in […]

The Federal College of Horticulture, Dadin Kowa in Gombe State, said it has trained women and youths from Balanga, Billiri, Kaltungo and Shongom LGAs of the state on agricultural production and management.

The Provost of the college, Professor Fatima BJ Sawa, who disclosed this yesterday, said no fewer than 525 women and youths participated in the three-day training and empowerment programme.

North East Trust reports that the training was sponsored by Hajiya Fatima Binta Bello, member representing Kaltungo/Shongom at the Federal House of Representatives.

Professor Sawa said the 525 participants were trained in various areas of agricultural enterprises which included agricultural production, value addition, processing and marketing of the products.

“It is expected that at the end of the training the participants will acquire the skills to be self-reliant and become employers of labour,” she said.

According to the provost, the college undertook 28 programmes and trained about 3000 beneficiaries between 2018 and 2019 in various areas which include fish and poultry production, orchard and nursery establishment and agric entrepreneurship among others.

The provost said the college has initiated random  follow up on the trainees to ensure that they are putting what they have learnt into practice.

“We are getting positive results and some have adopted the trade they learnt as a business and their means of livelihood.”

Sawa however decried that some of the trainees sold the tools and other starter packs they were given after training.

The Senior Legislative Aide to Binta Bello, Mr Simon Dauda Tula, said the training is the second to be facilitated by the member having trained 500 women and youths in January 2019.

He said the main objective of the training is to make them self-reliant and empower them in order to diversify the economy in line with the federal government’s policy on agriculture.