IITA trains young farmers from Borno State

The 3-week training scheduled to hold early September, will equip the beneficiaries with knowledge about modern agricultural practices and entrepreneurial skills that would make them self-dependent and able to create wealth.The training, to be conducted by youths who have been trained and empowered by IITA, will also draw from the experiences and successes of the […]

The 3-week training scheduled to hold early September, will equip the beneficiaries with knowledge about modern agricultural practices and entrepreneurial skills that would make them self-dependent and able to create wealth.
The training, to be conducted by youths who have been trained and empowered by IITA, will also draw from the experiences and successes of the IITA.
The IITA Director General, while unfolding the plan in Ibadan, said:
“What we intend to do is actually use agriculture to solve some of the social problems in most societies of Africa, including those of poverty and hunger. Over the last few years we have seen that it is more effective for young people to train others. We want to use this approach to bring more of the youth into agriculture, take them off the job market, and reinstate stability in our communities.”
Established over two years ago, the IITA Youth Agripreneurs programme uses learning, mentoring, and practical demonstrations of modern agriculture to attract the youth into agribusiness. The primary goals are to attract to the sector young and vibrant human capital by making farming profitable, thereby creating wealth and jobs needed in the society.
Dr Alfred Dixon, Leader of the IITA-managed project Sustainable Weed Management Technologies for Cassava Systems in Nigeria, said: “By engaging the youth in agriculture, we envision we can help to solve the problem of youth restiveness in Borno and make the state one of the major food exporters in the country.”