Business
COVID-19: Young Farmers Urge FG To Reposition Agribusiness
The Nigerian Young Farmers Network (NYFN) has urged the Federal Government to reposition the country’s Agribusiness sector for youth participation owing to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The national coordinator of the network,Mr Promise Amahah, made the call yesterday in Abuja, while speaking to newsmen.
“There is a critical need for a National Emergency Food Strategy as the pandemic had caused oil price to crash which will affect country’s major source of revenue.
“The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed the major gaps in Nigerian Food Security approach.
“We can’t continue to be reactionary to such developments as a nation. We must begin to plan long term and shore up our capacity across board to strengthen our food systems.
“The current average age of a Nigerian farmer is 55 years based on World Bank Microdata 2019 and the average life expectancy of a Nigerian is between 55 and 56 years.
“This statistic is traumatic and evidently underscores the need for urgent repositioning of the sector. As far as I’m concerned, no young farmers, no adequate food, no adequate food, no future.
“It is time for deliberate efforts to integrate young people into the process of food production if we must build resilience against unforeseen circumstances like the current pandemic” he said.
Amahah noted that his Network provided a veritable platform for youth mobilisation and engagement in agribusiness adding that youth participation would accelerate food security and sustainability considering the demographic advantage.
He said NYFN was ready and willing to collaborate with the government to mobilise youth in the country into farming business to gurantee food security.
The coordinator disclosed that his network had developed a strategy known as G.E.A.R which means Gather, Equip, Activate and Release.
“We understand that the first tool for building formidable food systems is data gathering. Data is the single most important resource for Food Security and Modern Agricultural Development.
Cornerstone of Financial Services
A survey of more than 1 000 global finance leaders undertaken by digital payment network Ripple shows that 72% of respondents believe they need to offer a digital asset solution to remain competitive.
According to Ripple, leaders from the banking, fintech, corporate and asset management sector have made it clear that the “digital asset revolution is happening now”.
“Digital assets are quickly becoming a cornerstone of financial services, underpinned by progressive regulation, growing interest from Tier-1 banks, a steady consumer shift from banks to fintech providers, and booming stablecoin adoption,” Ripple says.
The survey was conducted in early 2026 and the findings released in March.
Stablecoin Boon or Bane?
Ripple has experienced significant success in the stablecoin sector since launching its Ripple USD (RLUSD) stablecoin in 2024.
With a market cap of $1.56 billion, it is considered a major regulated player in the market.
No doubt the platform was pleased to learn through its own survey that financial leaders were most bullish about stablecoins.
Roughly three-quarters of respondents believed they could boost cash-flow efficiency and unlock trapped working capital.
Ripple noted that finance leaders were thinking about stablecoins as more than “just a new way to execute payments”; instead, they viewed them as effective tools for treasury management.
In March 2026, Ripple began testing a new trade finance model built around RLUSD in a bid to increase the speed of cross-border payments.
The pilot initiative, developed alongside supply chain finance company Unloq [https://unloq.com], is running on the XRP Ledger inside a testing framework developed by the Monetary Authority of Singapore.
The Asian city-state is one of the platform’s biggest growth markets.
The idea behind the project is to see whether stablecoin-based settlement can streamline trade finance, too often hampered by reliance on intermediaries and slow reconciliation.
The only potential drawback is that if the initiative takes off, the Ripple to USD price could be negatively affected.
Ripple has always championed its native XRP token as a bridge asset, the “middleman” in the process of a financial institution turning dollars in the US into pounds in the UK, for example.
Ripple converts dollars into XRP and then back into pounds.
If RLUSD can do exactly the same thing, questions will be asked about XRP’s relevance.
That is a bridge Ripple will have to cross if it gets to that point.
Tokenisation Partners
Another interesting finding from Ripple’s survey is that most banks and asset managers are seeking tokenisation partners to help execute their strategies.
Some 89% of respondents said digital asset storage and custody were top priority. “Token servicing/lifecycle management also ranks highly for banks at 82%, while asset managers place greater emphasis on primary distribution at 80%,” Ripple found.
The survey also revealed that just more than half of fintechs and financial institutions want an infrastructure provider that can offer a “one-stop-shop solution”. This rose to 71% among corporate financial leaders.
Ripple attributes this to institutions and firms wanting uncomplicated, cohesive systems.
Infrastructure Rules
In its final analysis, Ripple says companies across the board are looking for partners and solutions that are “secure, compliant, battle-tested and that enable growth and execution”.
“The message is clear: infrastructure decisions made today will shape competitive positioning tomorrow.”
No surprise that this is precisely where Ripple is placing much of its focus.
