Ekiti To Recruit 20,000 Youths For Agric Scheme

No fewer than 20,000 unemployed youths in Ekiti will be recruited in 2014 under the Youth Commercial Agriculture Development Programme (YCAD) introduced by the government.

The Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Agriculture and Natural Resources, Mr Oludare Abegunde, made this known in an interview with newsmen in Ado-Ekiti recently.

He said that government introduced the programme to return agriculture to its former glory and make the sector attractive to the youths.

He said that YCAD would help to reduce youth unemployment, it would also help transform Ekiti into the food basket of the nation and ensure national food security.

He said that 2,820 youths would be recruited under the programme in 2013.

Abegunde said that agriculture would not only generate employment for the youths, it would also boost the state internally-generated revenue by over 50 per cent.

The permanent secretary promised that the the government would revitalise all abandoned agriculture facilities in the state and ensure that they were effectively utilised.

He said that in 2012 over 1,130 hectares of land was cultivated for cassava production, while 150 hectares was cultivated for the production of water melon and tomatoes.

“During the same period, 18 hectares of oil palm and 22 hectares of cocoa were cultivated, respectively,’’ he said.

Abegunde told our source that as part of its efforts to empower the youths, more land would be cultivated in 2013 for the production of various cash crops.