Tackling unemployment through agriculture

A report compiled in December 2008 by the Federal Ministry of Youth Development, stated as of then that Nigeria generated about 4.5 million new entrants into the labour market annually. The figure, it stated, was made up of one million people out of the school system, 2.2 million primary school leavers not proceeding to secondary […]

A report compiled in December 2008 by the Federal Ministry of Youth Development, stated as of then that Nigeria generated about 4.5 million new entrants into the labour market annually. The figure, it stated, was made up of one million people out of the school system, 2.2 million primary school leavers not proceeding to secondary school, one million secondary school leavers not proceeding to the tertiary level and 300,000 tertiary graduates finding no placement anywhere for productive activities.
It is against these alarming statistics that it came as no surprise that Nigeria is grouped with Mauritania, Cape Verde and Cote d’Ivoire as countries with the most acute unemployment rate in the world. This, no doubt is a heartbreaking and embarrassing state of affairs which needs prompt action to redress it.
One of the main challenges in the country today as regard the growing unemployment issue, is the fact that we have over the years not paid enough attention to agriculture, the mainstay of the economy, which besides feeding the nation, has the capacity to provide meaningful jobs to these millions of jobless youth. We have also become too dependent on oil. Nigeria, like most oil-dependent economies, is battling with the fall of global oil prices. In fact, it is partly the reason we neglected agriculture.
This however has necessitated the continued quest by the government for the diversification of her revenue base. Though, a few good steps are already being taken in agriculture. Some weeks ago, a National Summit on Raw Materials-based SME Clusters in Nigeria was organized by the Raw Materials Research and Development Council (RMRDC) in collaboration with the Nigerian Association of Small Scale Industrialists (NASSI) and other stakeholders. The theme of the Summit – “Raw Materials-Based Cluster Initiative: Imperative for Nigeria’s Sustainable Industrial Development and Economic Growth”, was aimed at promoting raw materials-based SME clusters for enhanced competitiveness in domestic and export markets, thus, creating jobs and wealth for the growing army of unemployed.
Also, Nigeria’s agricultural rise is also receiving attention from local and international investors who have made a total commitment of N1.3 trillion ($8 billion) worth of investments in the sector in the last 24 months. Therefore, the overall benefits or economic impact includes the creation of 1.4 million jobs in nine commodities and increased food by 7.7 million metric tons. Others are income generation; which has increased Nigerian Farmers’ net income by N341 billion ($2.1 billion) in five value chains of cassava, rice (dry and rainy season), sorghum, maize, and cotton. And the overall contribution of ATA to GDP has also been estimated to be N591.00 billion ($3.6 billion) injected into the Nigerian economy.
One other area that needs to be re-emphasised in the onerous battle to curtail this monster called unemployment, is the importance of Small and Medium Scale Enterprises, SMES. More than any other businesses, they are the greatest generators of jobs the world over. It is possible for us to create our own Silicon Valley, where young and vibrant entrepreneurs initiate, create and grow businesses, employing millions.
Yakubu wrote in from GRA Keffi, Nasarawa State.