The Akinyele Local Government Area of Oyo State is to train 250 young people in agribusiness, according to a statement by the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), Ibadan.
The statement was signed by Mr Godwin Atser, IITA Information Officer, and made available to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Friday in Abuja.
It said the intervention was being organised on the platform of the IITA Youth Agripreneur programme, established in 2012 to engage young people from various educational disciplines in agricultural development.
According to the statement, a youth education centre will be constructed at the institute to ensure the sustenance of the programme.
It stated that the agripreneur programme had rekindled the hope of the new generation of African agricultural entrepreneurs who would feed the continent, create wealth and employment.
It said in less than two years of inception, the group had recorded various achievements such as the production and marketing of 30 tonnes of certified maize and soybean seeds.
The group had also produced 280 tonnes of cassava roots, multiplied over 3,200 bundles of cassava stems and over 100 plantain suckers, it said.
The statement said that the programme had also received approval for funding the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa (FARA), as well as IITA.
The statement quoted IFAD President Kanayo Nwanze as saying that the successes recorded by the youngsters were signs of a brighter future for Africa.
“I am overwhelmed by your achievements; by what you have done and I am proud of you.”
He described the IITA Youth Agripreneurs programme as the most successful “incubator” that would raise the necessary human resources to address the food security concerns for Nigeria and Africa.
Nwanze advised the youths to take advantage of the programme and plan for a better future. (NAN)
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