Agriculture
Minister Sponsors Training 20 Young Farmers In Oyo
Joel Ajayi
In a bid to eradicate poverty and ensure food security in Oyo state, the Minister of Youth and Sports Development, Mr. Sunday Dare under the supervision of the National Directorate of Employment NDE has commenced the training of 20 Youth in Agriculture in a bid to expose them to various agricultural techniques.
This is in line with the charge of Mr. President to encourage and support the youth to take to agriculture.
The flag-off of the 3-month training took place at the Oyo East local government Secretariat with young men and women in attendance.
In a message sent by the Minister on the first day of the 90 days training, he said
“The agricultural sector is a key-value chain of the economy, which will make the beneficiaries to be productive to themselves and the society in general. This programme is meant to build young farmers, make everyone self-reliant and provide food security in the state.
The beneficiaries were selected from the 33 local government areas in Oyo state. The participants will be trained on various aspects of agriculture such as crop production, fishery, palm oil processing and livestock. After the training, each participant shall receive farm tools to support them to turning the training into practice.
Speaking at the event, Mr. Matthew a beneficiary said “Great honour to the Minister, Mr Sunday Dare for this great plan to empower unemployed people in the State to be self-employed in the agricultural sector.
Another beneficiary, Mr. Atolagbe from Oyo west local government said ”
I’m elated to be a part of this program and I thank our Minister, for the opportunity.
NDE coordinator of the programme in the Oyo State office of NDE, Mr. Adedoja Kabir called on people to embrace agriculture in order to ensure food sufficiency in the state. He confirmed that the Youth were personally sponsored by the Minister of Youth and Sports for the Scheme.
Agriculture
Group calls for improved agriculture innovations to boost food security
Mariam Sanni
A Non Governmental Organization, NGO in the agricultural sector, Self Help Africa, SHA has called for improved agricultural innovations to enhance food security and support farmers.
The Country Director, Joy Aderele made this call during in a media chat at the National Mid-term review for the abatement of short-lived climate pollutants in Nigerian Agricultural sector project held in Abuja .
According to her, a recent learning visit revealed that many innovative solutions exist in institutes but are not reaching farmers.
She added that there is a need for policies that would enable researchers in the agricultural sector to disseminate their innovations more effectively.
She emphasized the need for a protocol that allows researchers to share their work without fear of it being taken over is emphasized.
“So we just returned from a learning visit last week, where we had gone to some institutes, great institutes across the country, and I was surprised and amazed to see that we have a lot of innovation sitting in this institute, professors that have done a lot of things that will even make us not to have any issue a young guy in Nigeria. But this learning or innovation is not trickling down. People don’t know about it. The average farmer in my village does not know about the innovation.
“ So I would say that one thing that the ministry should do is to bring up this protocol that enable researchers in the agri space to disseminate their their data, their innovation freely so that farmers and our food security can improve,” she stated.
Aderele highlighted the major achievement of reducing bush burning among farmers, which improves soil and environmental health.
She explained that the promotion of climate-smart agriculture has led to higher crop yields, benefiting farmers and the community.
According to her, Post-harvest losses have been reduced, with rice residue now used to make briquettes, providing an additional income source for farmers.
The country Director said awareness of climate change has increased among farmers, leading to a shift away from traditional, harmful practices like bush burning.
Aderele revealed that the current pilot project in Benue state is aimed to be replicated across all 36 states and the FCT in Nigeria.
She noted that the organization has worked with over 500,000 small farmers globally, with a focus on making farming attractive to young people.
She added that the organization plans to share the lessons learned from the pilot project to improve farming practices nationwide.
The Director, department of agriculture land and climate change management device, Federal Ministry off Agriculture, Muhammed Bello emphasized the importance of sustainable land management for food security and the government’s goal of ensuring healthy soil for farmers.
He surged that the project on abatement of short-lived climate change pollutants is highlighted as a key initiative to clean up and fertilize the land.
He explained that the collaboration is aimed to replicate the project’s achievements and expand its reach across Nigeria, ensuring that more farmers benefit from healthy soil.
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