How agriculture can solve youth unemployment puzzle

“The exodus of rural youth means fewer small-scale farmers tomorrow, which will lead to drastically changing the profile of farming,” said a recent report by the International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED).In the 60’s Nigeria was dependent on agriculture which accounted for over half of its GDP and served as the main source of […]

“The exodus of rural youth means fewer small-scale farmers tomorrow, which will lead to drastically changing the profile of farming,” said a recent report by the International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED).
In the 60’s Nigeria was dependent on agriculture which accounted for over half of its GDP and served as the main source of export earnings and public revenue.
The oil sector, which later emerged and became firmly established during the 1970’s, now provides 95% of the country’s foreign exchange earnings and 65% of budgetary revenues.
This situation of dominance of oil in the economy has led to a major decline in the agricultural sector, leading agriculture to be practiced and dominated by traditional smallholder farmers who raise subsistence crops such as maize, cassava, yams, rice of which up to 70% of the final produce is for their own consumption.
Today, youth unemployment is both a threat and an opportunity, as the agricultural sector offers huge potential for job creation and realising this can radically change the image of agriculture among young people.
To achieve this, government should set up agricultural mechanisation centres to help young farmers without capital, who might need expensive tools such as tractors, which they may not be able to afford.
Agriculture, given its major role in the rural economy, has the potential to provide solutions to the current problems of youth unemployment in the country and slow the pace of rural-urban migration.
There is no doubt that the power of young people in Nigeria’s agriculture can be unleashed if the institutional structures and policy instruments are put in place to provide the necessary training and access to finance and mentoring that could help influence their visions of agriculture as an economic activity.
Okechukwu is a HND II student of Mass Communication, Federal Polytechnic, Bida, Niger State.