NGO, Deans Sign Agripreneurship Deal In Benin

A Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO),  the Youth Initiative for Sustainable Agriculture (YISA)-Nigeria,   and  the Association of Deans of Agriculture in Nigerian Universities (ADANU),  have  signed a Memorandum of  Understanding (MoU)  to help promote the interest  of youths in agriculture as a business.
The founder and National Coordinator of  YISA-Nigeria, Mr Ogirinye Innocent, said last Tuesday in Benin, that the MoU revolved around an Agripreneurship Incubation and Mentorship (AIM), programme aimed at  promoting the  interest of youths  in agriculture.
The signing of the MoU  took place during the 61st Annual General Meeting of ADANU,   at the University of Benin which had as  theme:  “Breaking Nigeria’s Monolithic Economy through Agriculture.’’
According to Innocent,  AIM is the group’s   flagship empowerment programme with ADAN,  aimed at  helping to  change the  mind set of youths  who see  agriculture within the purview of peasant farming.
“It is designed for the students of Faculties and Colleges of Agriculture in Nigeria’s tertiary institutions to build the capacity of the students in  practical agribusiness skills.
“It is also to create agribusiness hubs within the school environment in order to produce successive generations of active players for sustainable agriculture in Nigeria upon graduation,’’ he said.
Innocent, described the agriculture sub-sector of the economy as the “untapped goldmine’’ that can revive the country’s   ailing economy.
He, however, said that,  the lack of interest among the youths  and “more unacceptably among students and graduates of agricultural disciplines  is connected with the little attention given to practical demonstration of the profitability of  agriculture as a business.’’
“There is little or no practical skills on the part of most students and graduates of  agriculture.
“They also lack support in form of incentives,  especially  financing platform for graduates of  agriculture to sustainably establish Agribusiness enterprises upon graduation.
“Today in Africa, young people are not interested in agriculture and are therefore not active players in the sector.
“It is a sad development that youths, especially young graduates, have left the `goldmine’ in the hands of ageing peasant farmers whose best tools are hand hoes and cutlasses, while youth unemployment and general food insecurity continue to rise in the midst of abundant resources,’’ he said.