Group Restates Commitment To Empowering Youths Through Agric.

Published

5 months ago

June 15, 2025

An NGO, Uplifting Youths Through Agriculture (UYOTA), has restated its commitment towards empowering Nigerian youths through agriculture.

The Co-Founder, of the group, Mr Nnamdi Adigwe made the commitment during a news conference in Abuja on Saturday.

Adigwe, said that the group would hold summit on agricultural revolution with the theme: Agriculture, the Key to Economic Empowerment, Sustainable Development and Food Security in Africa.

He explained that the aim was to raise awareness in achieving food sustainability through youths ‘ engagement in agriculture.

“The Africa youth agri-business summit 2025 seeks to ignite youths’ interest in the agricultural value chain.

“We hope to empower them with the knowledge, tools and opportunities to see agriculture as a viable, profitable and sustainable business ventures,” he said.

Adigwe who affirmed the group’s commitment to promoting agro-economy in Africa, said that through building such bridges, agribusiness could stimulate growth in our economy.

He said that the summit would offer opportunities to expand access to finance and investment by creating platforms for meaningful dialogue.

According to him, the summit will also help in tackling climate challenges in agriculture.

Also speaking, the National Coordinator, Mr Bola Ojo, said that the group would key into the vision of President Bola Tinubu in agricultural revolution.

Ojo who commended President Tinubu’s agricultural policies, said that they would collaborate with government in the area of ensuring food security.

He lauded the Minister of Youth Development and the leadership of the National Assembly for driving innovations and development in the agricultural sector.

Ojo said that the group through synergy with the government had made impacts on the youths at the sub-national levels, especially in understanding the importance of agriculture.

NAN

Edited by Francis Onyeukwu

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IWMI: Promoting affordable irrigation technologies for smallholder farmers

Published

1 week ago

October 21, 2025

The Gleamer

Mariam Sanni

Smallholder farmers are challenged with erratic rainfall leading to drought spells, crop water stress and eventually reduced growth and yield penalties

Water insecurity is the major risk to smallholder farmers and a major driver for low investments in agricultural innovations

Even when water resources are sustainably available, smallholder farmers are unable to invest in irrigation equipment due to high upfront costs.

Smallholder farmers have limited access to loans and credit facilities even though irrigation usually is a profitable investment.

Promoting affordable irrigation for smallholders involves increasing access to low-cost technologies like drip and sprinkler kits and solar pumps, and supporting them with financial tools like subsidies and credit.

Also the Farmer-Led Irrigation Development (FLID) has helped farmers to independently invest in, manage and maintain irrigation equipment, adapting technologies to local needs without relying on large-scale projects, reduces farmers’ reliance on erratic rainfall and leads to increased farm investments (good seed, fertilizers, etc.)

Farmers move from 1 rain-fed crop, to multiple harvests per year, boosting yields, income, and food security

Nigeria and other countries have high potential for solar-based irrigation, irrespective of the type of water resources.

As part of efforts to boost local capacity to produce and maintain simple, low-cost irrigation, International Water Management Institute, IWMI through multi- stakeholder dialogues, policy support is partnering with stakeholders created an enabling environment for inclusive and sustainable irrigation development .

The Researcher , Agricultural Water Solution, IWMI Dr Adebayo Oke during his presentation at the International Conference on Climate Change and Just Energy Transition 2025, highlighted that the institute has foster SMEs’ inclusive scaling of bundled irrigation solutions through inclusive business model development and strategic partnerships

The Conference which was theme: Sustainable Clinate Resilience and Just Energy Transition in Africa: A Collaborative Pathway through Policy, Capacity Building, Research and Inclusion was held in Abuja.

He added that its has deployed an impact accelerator program to develop new bundled solutions and SME collaborations that address multiple value chains

According him, IWMI has attracted sustainable finance investments in SMEs to fast-track the adoption of bundled water solutions by smallholder farmers.

Speaking on experience in Nigeria: scaling solar irrigation solutions –Solar scaling pathway studies (Kaduna, Kano, Kebbi) has stratifying the smallholder farmers using the Discrete Choice Experiment.

He mentioned bundling of irrigation technology and financial services to determine scaling pathway/different financing models.

Dr Oke added they also developed a credit facility to enable the scaling of SPI.

Furthermore, he stated IWMI-West & Central Africa Priorities for 2024-2030 as building resilient agric food system against climate change , leveraging water for resilience in fragile and conflict affected settings, enabling circular water and food economy innovations, supporting water infrastructure and allocation decisions among others .

The Country Director , Ghana and Regional Representatives for West and Central Africa, Professor Kehinde Ogunjobi in an interview with newsmen at the event highlighted the importance of evidence-based data for farmers, aquaculture, and environmental ministries.

He said that there is need to raise awareness and emphasized the importance of government support for research and developmental projects on climate change and its impact on agriculture, livelihood, and other sectors.

Professor Ogunjobi has implored government to build capacity of people working in the field of climate change and capacitate farmers to turn evidence-based data into reality.

He encouraged the government to do more to support research and address the impact of climate change, which is more evident in the West African region compared to developed countries.

He urged stakeholders to collaborate with the government and institutions like IWMI Ghana to improve the impact of climate change mitigation and adaptation efforts and improve the livelihood of people in the region.

He noted the political shift in the US, with the previous administration no longer supporting climate change initiatives, emphasizing the need for Africa to look inward.

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