AfDB Invest $300 Million In Agriculture

The African Development Bank (AfDB) in its continued efforts at providing fund for youths involved in agriculture would be investing about $300 million as part of innovative funding mechanism for youths in agric-led employment initiative. The funding as revealed by the Minister of State for Agriculture, Heineken Lokpobori would help develop the country and encourage youth in aghriculture.

This is news we can only hope the usual challenges of engaging the youth is overcome with this extra push coming into this critical sector of the economy. I would advice serious agro entrepreneurs to keep an eye out for some grant opportunities and loans from AfDB soon as they seek to achieve the mandate laid down with this kind of investment. Anyone with innovative social enterprise projects they wish to develop and possibly gain funding for, they should click here to get help incubating and accelerating such projects.

Have a productive day.

KOA

Meet The Next Generation of Farmers In Abuja

More young people are interested in Agriculture than ever before due to a combination of factors. These young individuals are passionate and knowledgeable about current Agricultural practises. They are able to fuse their knowledge of the global economics with the immediate need of Nigerian farming and economy.

The images below are from Fish Farming cluster in ABUJA. Run by young individuals with a exciting new ideas for Farming.
I salute your efforts!

Natural & Organic Products Exhibition 2014

Going from strength to strength 2014′s Natural & Organic Products Europe saw over 550 companies from 45 different countries exhibiting natural and organic ranges to more than 9,000 health, food and beauty buyers – including representatives from major supermarkets and multiples, specialist suppliers, international wholesalers and distributors, pharma3cies, leading contract caterers, salons and spas, plus hundreds of independent retail outlets. I was at the exhibition last month to promote the new 100% Shea butter product "OKWUME" by one of our cooperative farms; Jigna Eco-Farms

Natural and organic products are big business around the world, and each year it’s getting bigger. The higher demand for natural products in the beauty and cosmetic industry represents an opportunity for farmers, communities and agro co-operatives to get more value for their products.

WORLD FRUIT MARKET

BEESWAX PRODUCTS

WITH CEO OF EATMORINGA, DAVID

"OKWUME" THE 100% SHEA BUTTER CREAM

ARRIVING AT THE EXHIBITION

DUDU OSUN ON DISPLAY 

MORINGA SUPPLEMENTS 

CATCHING THEM YOUNG. A YOUNG FARMER'S EXPERIENCE

For Africa and Nigeria in particular there is the looming threat of food insecurity. Arable lands are dwindling, climate change is taking a toll on agricultural practices,the farming population is aging and going extinct, famine is ravaging the Horn of Africa. This should be of urgent concern to all stakeholders and getting young persons to invest in or practice agriculture is a way of translating the threats to opportunities.

Agriculture is not exactly attractive. Drudgery occasioned by crude methods, low profitability of agricultural products, difficulty in accessing agro-markets among others are factors conspiring to discourage young people from Agriculture. Besides among young people including me, there is the wide-spreading mentality of “making it big” and practicing agriculture rarely guarantees that…only with telescopic sights could one see the money-spinning potential. In spite of these glaring challenges, I think young persons can still be steered to develop interest in agriculture. One effective means of doing that is making the subject Agricultural Science as practical as possible in secondary schools.In secondary schools all over Nigeria students offer Agricultural Science for six years as part of the curriculum but much of this is geared towards theory – memorizing the concepts and duplicating them in exams. This in my opinion barely encourages the practice of the subject. I recall in my first year in high school as part of our Agricultural Science activities we were divided into groups and asked to provide seeds, plant them on allotted pieces of land, weed the farm and even do the harvesting of our plants for our consumption. So we had a small school farm for the class and my group planted groundnuts. Although at that age I was already a practicing farmer those practical sessions further cemented my interest in agriculture.

That farm for me was like a personal investment – one to be treated with utmost diligence. Participating in those agricultural activities were simply exciting to most of the students in my group. Off the record though, when it came to the harvesting we were not invited, I guess the Agricultural Science teacher and his family did that at night. Even though I felt gypped of the expected harvest, the experience was still an empowering one.Only recently during my youth service some students came to the staff room with various vegetables. So much so that you would think the Agricultural Science teacher had taken to petty trading of the leaves. The vegetables were from the class farm, cultivated by students. Well, this particular teacher was not like mine, she merely took a fraction and let whoever wanted to share in the harvest take a share, including the students. I thought that was a nice approach to learn Agricultural Science – practice the parts that are feasible rather than merely feed students with notes upon notes.Students who participated in nurturing the class farm above are bound to appreciate the subject more and even become stakeholders in agriculture whether they decide to study agriculture as a discipline or not. Letting them partake in the “fruits of their labor” is also a means to encourage students to grow into practicing agriculturalists.

Many Nigerian schools can inculcate the approach of building a school farm, no matter how small, a nursery even. Let students practice the concepts of harrowing, ploughing, tilling, planting, weeding, manure production and application, harvesting and most importantly “reaping the fruits of their labor”. Some schools can as well afford to have a small poultry farm and have student groups take turns to tend to the birds. The cost of such a class project can easily be shared by the students in a particular group.There is no doubt that farming is not exactly that “sexy” job most young people want to practice. And most people will only read agriculture when they have been denied Veterinary Medicine or some other “sexy” course choice. But in truth, we really don’t have to read Animal Production or Crop Production to engage in agriculture. Sometimes all we need is to see the opportunities and the needs and invest our resources in the field. For Africa and Nigeria the food insecurity threat is just enough incentive to seize the opportunities of a largely untapped sector. Making Agricultural Science truly engaging in a practical way at the secondary school level is an effective way of catching the needed farmers young.


Anthony Itodo Samuel
rutherford2forlife@yhoo.com

He is a graduate of Petroleum Engineering from the University of Port Harcourt, Nigeria. From a tender age he has been involved with agriculture, growing up in an agrarian family. By the age of 14 he had his own small poultry and a sesame seed farm. You can read more of his works on http://poeticfarmer.wordpress.com/

CALL FOR COLLABORATORS, PARTNERS & VOLUNTEERS

ARE YOU BETWEEN THE AGE GROUP OF 18 –35 ?
ARE YOU PASSIONATE ABOUT CREATING WEALTH ?
DO YOU HAVE GREAT COMMUNICATION SKILLS ?
LOOKING FOR PRODUCTIVE NETWORKING OPPORTUNITIES
INTERESTED IN JOINING A PROJECT THAT MAKES A REAL DIFFERENCE ?

We are looking for motivated and committed individuals/organizations to
collaborate with Youth Agro Entrepreneurs (YAE) in organizing outreach
programmes and events.

YAE is a social enterprise incubator that aims to train a new generation of farmers by building sustainable agricultural training centres on farm sites across the region. YAE is a training centre that teaches agricultural practices and business skills required to become a successful agro-entrepreneur. We are convinced that this will contribute to reducing levels of youth unemployment in Nigeria. Interested parties should please contact us for specific details.

The project is funded by The Rockefeller Foundation and Ajima Farms Nigeria Ltd and was awarded the Social Innovation Award in 2012.

Interested candidates should send an email to youthagroent@gmail.com

Explaining The Basics Of The GES scheme

On the 13th of May 2013, the Agriculture and Rural Development department of FCTA -Abuja initiated this years Grow Enhancement Support scheme popularly known as GES. I have been monitoring the process by visiting the centres with with the rest of the team, as part of our research. This has led to a stream of messages from interested NGOs, young farmers, software developers and technerds interested in the scheme for varying reasons. I have therefore hurriedly put together an overview of the process. I hope you find this useful.

A schematic explanation of the processes for the current subsidized agro inputs sales under the GES scheme operated by the Federal Government.

The Growth Enhancement Support Scheme is the governments scheme aimed at
•Improving agriculture productivity and food security
•Reducing cost of Agro-Inputs delivery to farmers by ensuring transparency and efficiency The program is funded by the Federal Government of Nigeria, IFDC and USAID.

Operationals 

E-wallets : A voucher in a text format recieved on a mobile phone by registered farmer that entitles the bearer of the text access to buying discounted inputs ( fertilizers, seeds and chemicals) for a limited period of time. The farmer therefore buys inputs directly from independent agro dealers who verify they are registered farmers with the government and have recieved a voucher on their "e-wallet". Note that the mobile device used becomes the wallet which should contain the voucher (sms) that allows you to buy at 50% discount.

Agro-Dealers : They are registered dealers with the government after fulfilling a set of requirements. Approximately 2-3 dealers in each Area Council

Eligible Farmers : These are farmers who have registered under the on going farmer registration exercise. The mobile phine numbers of this farmers are obtained and stored in the database and used as the raw data for developing the e-wallet. Their farms should be smaller than 3 hectares Passport photographs 18 and above. At each Agro dealers shop, the government has an agent stationed by the sales point, with helpline staff from the communication provider (Cellulant) along with monitoring teams from interested and involved NGOs.

• Farmers that recieve a voucher in their e-wallet arrive at the centre 
• The codes that make up the voucher is presented to agro dealer 
• Helpline staff teach farmers how to redeem their inputs by texting their voucher number to a specific code e.g. text voucher number to 437 (MTN) 438 (Etisalat) etc. 
• Farmer sends his voucher through text message and agrodealer gets alerted via text message 
• The message authorizes agrodealer to sell inputs 
• Agrodealer sends back text message to confirm sales and update database of how many farmers attended to. 
• Verification call back or text back is carried out by Cellulant to the dealer and the phon of the government agent stationed st the centre 
• Farmer pays money to dealer and claims his inputs

Explaining Colour Codes of Arrows Green arrows denote permission to carry out command Yellow arrows are seeking permission/purchase Amber colours are for confirming verification Blue is for close seal for transactions. 

Do you think you have a brilliant and innovative idea or software thst can improve this process ? Get in touch with us.

Courtesy of Kabir Onimisi Ademoh
Youth Agro Entrepreneur Communication Officer
Email: k.o.ademoh@gmail.com
Twitter @onimsiwordsmith

Snail Farming In Nigeria (THY Consultancy)

Nigeria's economic recovery programmes have necessitated a radical shift from total dependence on government for job to self-employment. One such attractive area for self-employment is snail rearing. It is a great money-spinning business that can provide a substantial source of protein to complement Nigerian carbohydrate meals. Sadly Nigerians inclination to go into business in the fields where thousands have already made their fortune has led to the ulter neglect of such lucrative area of snail farming in Nigeria or export at international market. You see snails stick to a tree stump, hide under stones or leaves, what impression do you have of them? When you see them displayed in the market places, do you view them as one of those edible animals meant for the soup pot? Many people see snails here and there. Some people take it as meat. But quite a number don't know how to go about rearing them. This is made worse because snails, which belong to the family of animal called MOLLUSCA, is an hermaphrodite. It has both the female and male sexual organs; so one cannot really distinguish between the male and female specie of it.

Many who are into snail farming in Nigeria are also unwilling to let others know about the farming methodology. The techniques are often shrouded in secrecy. But the plain truth is that snail farming is as easy as ABC. The only thing the snails may constantly demand from you is your attention and care. They hardly fall sick. You don't have to buy their food and you may not have to spend much to create an abode for them. The beauty of it all is that the snails reproduce rapidly. They are capable of producing hundreds of eggs, which hatch into snails. It is now possible to produce 1,000,000 snails worth more than N5 million twice a year.

This lucrative figures are made possible because of the availability of very highly prolific ACHATINA ACHATINA species of snails, which lay 200-400 in one batch 2-3 times a year in Nigeria.

HUGE INCOME EARNING OPPORTUNITY

One of the Personnal Entrepreneurial Characteristic (PEC) that makes a big different between a successful entrepreneur and an unsuccessful one is opportunity seeking. That is seeking, recognizing and acting on new business opportunities. This is the use of contacts or networking to obtain useful information. It is in view of the above fact that, we at THE THY CONSULTING are introducing this wonderful opportunity to you. This is golden opportunity that will enable readers to create for themselves, the targets and lofty goals for huge success.

In order to assist a lot of Nigerians to tap into this highly lucrative venture, our organization, THE THY CONSULTING, has written a manual titled "THE BEAUTY OF SNAIL FARMING",and also produced a VCD on PRACTICAL COMMERCIAL SNAIL BREEDING IN NIGERIA, to enable them know all the techniques and secrets of commercial snail farming. Our organization has spent huge money, time and efforts to acquire valuable information through attending seminars, conferences, surfing Internet and researches on how to set up commercial snail farming successfully. All necessary, compressive and step by step guide on how to embark on the business and make huge financial success from it as we are currently enjoying; are contained in the well researched manual on "THE BEAUTY OF SNAIL FARMING." and the VCD on PRACTICAL COMMERCIAL SNAIL BREEDING IN NIGERIA.

If you are interested in obtaining this manual, please contact me at
THE THY CONSULTING
4, Ismail AbdulAzeez Street, Singer Bus Stop, Ewupe-Ijaniye, Sango Ota, Ogun State.
Tel: 08023050835 ask for Ismail AbdulAzeez or Kabirat AbdulAzeez.
E-mail:the_thy2002@yahoo.co.uk

Wrtitten by By Ismail AbdulAzeez

Youth are the future. Invest in them!

With more than 200 million people aged between 15 and 24 years (comprising over 20% of the population and 70% of the population being under 30 years old), Africa’s future seems bright. Young people usually bring new skills and abilities to the table, and tend to be highly competitive into sectors that use innovative technologies (such as ICT, social media or even agriculture).
But presently this is not the case in Africa. According to the Food, Agriculture and Natural Resources Policy Analysis Network (FANRPAN) Youth Policy Case Studies, while approximately 70% of youth live in rural areas and represent almost 65% of the workforce there. On average, 74% of the youth population in Africa lives on less than US$2 per day lacking the resources and skills to be competitive. With this potential, Africa’s transformation could have started “yesterday”. But because of poor support Africa’s youth can now consider themselves a minority.

Although access to education has been improved in the past years due to massive international support and many young brilliant Africans had the opportunity to study abroad, mass education is still unavailable, not because universities not exist, but because there is no standard at Africa level of how these programs should look like, what should they contain, what kind of skills should they develop and they are not linked to the everyday challenge of the African community.Moving away from training young people as agronomists, but developing them to be food security experts should be a good start. Africa needs to focus its energy, passion and resources on solving those stringent issues that affect both its present and future.

Although many say that (over-) specialization might end up killing the creativity in youth, I personally believe that if youth will learn more about a certain field of expertise, they will want to use/promote that knowledge through a multidisciplinary approach, being more inclined to acquire more information on how other technologies might impact their field and/or how their own field might influence other.This simple process might end up being the most cost effective strategy that African policy makers can support in order to ensure that the future farmers, future policy makers, future leaders, future researchers and future drivers of Africa’s social and economic development will be the ones that will transform Africa’s future.

Building on Africa’s human capabilities starts with the FARA Africa Agriculture Science Week where a full day is dedicated to youth development and empowerment. On Day 2 (July 19th) the focus will shift from policy making to how we can practically feed Africa. Education and human resources development will constitute key points of the discussion due to the high importance of youth in Africa’s agricultural transformation. While reporting from side events organized by FARA, YPARD, CTA and others, the discussions will focusing on providing a quality education to students from African universities and how capacity development fits into Africa’s competitiveness strategies.

And to end on a positive note I would like to quote the United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon: “The energy of youth can spark economies … The future belongs to them and they have a clear vision of the world we need to build together: peace, the preservation of our beautiful planet, the opportunity to make a better life.”



by Codrin Paveliuc-Olariu
Experienced Policy Advisor, exploring innovative ways of ensuring food security through agricultural policies design & currently one of the AASW social reporters.

Follow Codrin on Twitter @codrinPO

YAE NEEDS AND OPPORTUNITY ANALYSIS AVAILABLE FOR DOWNLOAD (ANNOUNCEMENT)

The Youth Agro Entrepreneurs are pleased to announce the availability of our Needs & Opportunity Analysis report for download.

This report assesses the current state of the agriculture industry and youths’ interests and attitudes toward farming in Nigeria. For our assessment, we conducted a survey, and the 302 respondents, including key individuals in the industry, have revealed much about agricultural priorities, trends, and the needs to reach youth and government planning committees to ensure a holistic and sustainable impact.

The overall outcome we expect to achieve is to encourage and engage youth in pursuing agriculture as a meaningful and viable career by operating a self-sufficient training center which would ensure a sustainable revenue stream.

We believe this needs analysis study, would contribute to the overall vision by helping establish a knowledge base, setting benchmarks, networking with key people, identifying gaps, limitations, and achievements, and devising objectives and long-term goals.

We trust that you will find these informative and useful in helping us develop strategic partnerships with agricultural stakeholders, policy-makers, advocates and investors

Please click here to download a full copy of the report.

“Where Is My Food Coming From” Agro-Entrepreneurship and Youth Unemployment In Nigeria

Nigeria is home to the largest African population on the continent, with a vast majority of its population been classified as young people (0-35) . As youth unemployment rises and an increase in numbers of young people migrating to cities continues, infrastructure is being strained; this is most evident in Lagos (former country’s capital). According to one report, Lagos is the second fastest growing city in Africa and seventh in the world.

Government initiatives and aides cannot meet the demands placed on roads, sanitation, education, health facilities and employment in the urban setting. General agricultural performance within the country is dismal, forcing the youth to leave the fields in search of stable employment in populated cities. This situation is contributing to a generation of youth dysfunction and disorientation (Adeyemi, 2012).

The majority of Nigerian youth are neither interested in farming nor in agricultural professions. The inability to attain an agricultural “revolution” or increase the desire of youth to take up agriculture is created by the continued rural-urban migration that has been taking place over the last few decades. Employment opportunities for youth continue to decline, but expansion of the agricultural sector will bring major improvements.

The Youth Agro Entrepreneurs (YAE) is a social enterprise incubator that aims to rebrand farming as a viable profession for a new generation of farmers by teaching Agricultural practices and business skills required to support the development of a sustainable agricultural enterprise.

In a study conducted by YAE, it was established that youths in Nigeria are eager to secure employment in this sector, but they need to be assured that agriculture can be a better means of earning money. The report explores the current climate of the agricultural industry and why agriculture has become unattractive for young people who are leaving school.

Agricultural training has to be revamped not only to make food available to millions of poor and hungry people, but also to create opportunities for youth to produce cash crops for local and international markets.

There is tremendous deficiency in youth employment engagement initiatives, as well as a crippled agricultural industry. Addressing the deficiencies will be a huge feat. However, with innovative, creative, and meaningful decisions by leaders, advocates, and policy-makers, the nation can begin to provide the necessary training, tools, incentives, and information to motivate the youth to participate in a viable and productive industry—agriculture.

“Where Is My Food Coming From” is a poetry/video fusion by Spoken Word poet, Onimisi “Wordsmith” Ademoh aimed at drawing the attention of the public to an important discussion which would help shape the policies and future of these sector of our emerging economy.


Like on Facebook - http://www.facebook.com/YouthAgroEntrepreneurs
Connect on twitter @youthagroent
youthagroentrepreneurs@live.co.uk
youthagroent@gmail.com

ONIMISI
onimisi.wordsmith@gmail.com
http://www.onimisi.com
onimsiwordsmith@twitter

Written & Performed by Onimisi
Directed & Edited by Benedict Raja Obazele
Sound Engineering by Stephen Ameh Jnr
Photography by Blaize Itodo
Make Up by Grace Eno Egbo-Egbo
Executive Prodcuer & Sponsors : Youth Agro Entrepreneurs.

TIPS FOR BUILDING SUSTAINABLE ENTERPRISES

This article deals with some basic principles and approaches required in building sustainable enterprises. A quick survey of Nigerian youths would show a high push towards entrepreneurship. Varying theories and reasons have been put forward to explain this trend, while it still remains unclear if these push towards building enterprises are as a result of lack of readily available jobs or an innate character of the average Nigerian youth, the need to create sustainable enterprises cannot be over emphasized in lieu of the current global economic conditions. 

A Youth Agro-entrepreneur must incorporate the model of sustainability into their personal life – thoughts, beliefs and motivation for it to be successfully reflected in their enterprise. 

Below are some basic bullet points from a lecture with a sustainable farming expert Father Godfrey Nzamujo attended by members of the Youth Agro Entrepreneurs at the Songhai Farm Porto Novo site, Benin Republic.

• An enterprise is all about “People who make things happen” – people who are capable of mobilising, inventing and creating.

1. Enterprises are created, grow or die because of people. 
2. An entrepreneur is a person who wants to make money or fame by harnessing the opportunity sets around him/her to satisfy the needs and desires of different social groups.

An enterprise is driven forward by its human resources, the technology it chooses to employ to fulfill the Needs and Desires of its Clients through the Products and Services it offers.

Entrepreneur – Leader – Manager

Who Is An Entrepreneur?

• A person who has a reasonable understanding of his future clients (customers) or their present needs and desires – also their latent needs and desires
• A person who has a reasonable knowledge of how to procure any sets of goods and services corresponding to the needs of a set of a social group.
• He/she has an unyielding drive to bring those goods and services to his clients the fastest way possible
• at the cheapest price possible
• of the best possible quality
• in a sufficient quantity and
• on demand.

A key to building great enterprises lies in the Leader and Manager level personnel as well as a dedicated and happy work force.

Sustainability cannot be imposed on a an enterprise, but instead should be built into the culture of the enterprise from the very on-set.

Young Agro-Entrepreneurs need to strive in attaining Level 5 Manager/Leader qualities to drive and inspire your team.

The concept of level 5 managers/leadership traits are

Level I :

Highly capable individual makes productive contributions through talent, knowledge, skills and good work habits

Level II :

Contributing team manager would typically be able to contribute individual capabilities to the achievement of group objectives and works effectively with others in a group setting.

Level III :

Competent manager organizes people and resources toward the effective and efficient pursuit of predetermined objectives.

Level IV :

Effective leader level traits are those who can catalyze commitment to the project and vigorous pursuit of a clear and compelling vision stimulating higher performance standards.

Level V :

The Executive Leader builds enduring greatness through a paradoxical blend of personal humility and professional will. The Level 5 leaders channel their ego away from themselves and into the larger goal of building a great company. It’s not that level 5 leaders have no ego or self-interest. Indeed, they are incredibly ambitious – but their ambition is first and foremost for the institution, not themselves.

In a nutshell,

Humility + will = Level 5

Level 5 leaders are a study in duality: modest and willful, humble and fearless.

A Beginner's Guide To Moringa : Application and Financial Benefits

Dubbed the miracle plant, moringa has gained a renewed interest globally as a very important crop in the push to end hunger and fight poverty.

There are numerous claims and counterclaims in regards to its published benefits health-wise, but this has not deterred the popularity amongst farmers across the country. The demand for Moringa based products from the leaves, powders, oil extracts and it seeds has provided a relatively easier option of growing economical plants with low initial start up cost.

The process of production before sales to the consumers are relatively easy and can be carried out without the need for specialized equipments. This thus provides the young agro-entreprenuer a viable investment opportunity.

The YAE team have a detailed presentation designed by Rev. Father Godfrey Nzamujo ( Founder and Director General of Songhai Farms)

Moringa presentation (general) from Samuel Ekene

Meet the YAE team

Fatima Ademoh

The success of this project depends a great deal on the people involved.

Fatima Ademoh
The principal investigator of this project, Fatima Ademoh, is very passionate about Finance and Agriculture which makes this project a wonderful fit for her. Her current research interests include Youth Agro Entrepreneurship and Financial Risk Management. She loves to volunteer, watch series, reading the Financial Times and helping others. She is an avid Manchester United fan and wants to travel the world.

Jelena Zivkovic

Jelena Zivkovic is part of an amazing research team that spans three continents with research interests in inclusion, sustainability and change. Most of her work has been in developing countries helping to make life altering changes to the lives of less privileged youths. Her current research interests are in the youth of Nigeria, with a focus on agri-preneurship. Her team seeks out opportunities to earn while you learn and learn while doing – join the journey.




Yinka Oniyangi is passionate about unemployment and the challenges facing youths of developing countries. She is an avid reader and a big fan of Manchester United. This project provides her with the chance to be part of a team that plans on effecting a big change in the lives of many people.

Yinka Oniyangi

Kabir Onimisi Ademoh is a Life Science graduate from Warwick University, passionate about Social Innovation and Communication.He is involved in a variety of Youth projects mainly Performance Poetry and Digital Art Workshops. His hobbies are Football, Photography and Travelling.

Kabir Onimisi Ademoh

What is Youth Agro Entrepreneurs (YAE)

In 2012, The Rockefeller Foundation identified revitalizing the agricultural sector as one of several key global challenges. This is why the “Farming Now” section of the competition was established with the aim of generating fresh and innovative ideas that would attract and encourage unemployed youth to enter the agricultural sector, thereby infusing youthful energy into this vital sector of the economy.

Youth Agro Entreprenuer (YAE) will seek to rebrand farming as a viable, profitable and honourable profession for a new generation of farmers. YAE will be a social enterprise incubator that will teach youth the agricultural practices and business skills required to support the development of youth-led agricultural enterprises

YAE aspires to become a financially self-sufficient organization which will empower unemployed youth with the knowledge, skills and drive to become consultants and agricultural entrepreneurs.
YAE hopes that this will contribute to alleviating the problems of extreme poverty and high levels of youth unemployment in Nigeria.

YAE research team will visit self-sufficient schools that exist in Africa and South America where they will observe the process and procedure of how hands-on and knowledge-based learning is being practiced and applied. Furthermore, consultants from similar established institutions will be sought to bring expertise and experience to the development of agricultural schools in Nigeria.

YAE has been awarded as grant by The Rockefeller Foundation to finance the development of a strategic plan for the implementation of a youth agriculture entrepreneurship training centre in Nigeria. The YAE team will be conducting research on the feasibility of the training centre and developing partnership with stakeholders, as well as communicating the results of the research to the public.

YAE intends to utilize this opportunity with the utmost discipline and focus in order to boost the stagnant agricultural sector.

For further Information please contact: Fatima O Ademoh (Fatima.ademoh@aun.edu.ng, oyizaf@gmail.com)