By Mahmoud Dogara (Bauchi State Correspondent)
About 30 youths selected in five states from the North to boost agriculture under the pilot phase of a project known as Empowering African Youths in Nigeria, has commenced training by a Non-governmental Organization called Office Chérifien des Phosphates, (OCP) in partnership with the Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University (ATBU).
The training by OCP Africa, which is for one week, is one of the leading companies in the global production and exportation of phosphate-based fertilizers and is aimed at empowering African youths by facilitating their participation in the business of Agriculture.
The project seeks to equip 30 young Nigerians, in the first phase, have been screened based on criteria ranging from having a certificate in Agriculture, experience with farmer engagement and entrepreneurship drive and drawn from Sokoto, Kaduna, Nasarawa, Niger, and Bauchi States, with capabilities to be self-employed and be future agriculture-entrepreneurs.
The Head of Agronomy for OCP Africa Fertilizers Nigeria Ltd., Donald Madukwe, who spoke during the opening ceremony of the training held at the Bauchi State Agriculture Development Programme, said that the participants will undergo specialized training in other to become proficient in technical and commercial skills. He said that this will enable them function as service providers and independent business owners within the Agriculture ecosystem, thereby helping them to find a means of livelihood for themselves.
He said the participants will undergo capacity training as developed by the faculty of Agriculture of the Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University (ATBU) to enable them function as value creators within the Agriculture value chain.
Madukwe added that the Young Leaders will be empowered with agronomy technical know-how and agricultural tools, such as mobile digital soil laboratories for soil testing and analysis, Cargo tricycles to reach rural farming communities as last mile retailers of inputs, Electronic Tablets for data gathering using digital solution, and small handheld implements to enable them deliver value to smallholder farmers in rural communities.
"I want to appreciate ATBU for accepting to do this for us, for accepting to run this race with us, it is our utmost desire to see the youths participate fully in agriculture. It is a thing of importance that we work together to make agriculture the mainstay of this country"
"It is important at this time, especially with the current situation of things in the country, the total ban on importation of finished food products and other items, there is need for us to increase our production.There is need for us to embrace precision agriculture and this is one of the ways OCP Africa is responding to this Clarion call"
"The EMAY project, the Agripromoter project, these are projects that are geared towards empowering the youths to support agriculture. The project is designed to train youths in different skill areas in agriculture, to enable them support the rural farmers, to improve their productivity, their yield and their income, thereby, improving their livelihood" he said
He stated that after the training and handing over of the items, the Young Leaders will be supported with monthly stipends to enable their businesses take root and stabilize.
Dr Madukwe said part of EMAY’s objectives, aside from creating a source of livelihood for the youths in the agricultural sector, is to empower them with the required knowledge needed to be consultants/advisors which will enable them to provide Best Agricultural Practices (BAP), Agronomic and Technical training and support to smallholder farmers in rural communities.
He said the participants will be equipped with sophisticated agro-tools to provide fertilizers and agrochemical recommendations based on soil analysis, Artificial Intelligence (AI) and digital solutions.
"We understand how hard it is for startups to cope especially when they are yet to get their ground, when they are yet to build their client base, so we are, by this programme, beckoning on the Faculty of Agriculture, to continually follow-up with these candidates even after this training so that they can get good mentorship and be able to plant their feet in this venture.
"On our side, OCP, we will support the young leaders with monthly stipends for the initial periods of this projects so that they will be able to establish and stabilize well enough to sustain the business on their own.This will enable the young leaders contribute their own quota to value creation and increase agricultural yield in food production in the country" he added
The Vice-Chancellor, ATBU, Prof. Muhammad Abdullazeez, who also spoke at the occasion, commended OCP Africa on the initiative, saying that this will help increase the participation of youths in agriculture and food production in the country. NNL.
