Horti Nigeria reiterates resolve to stimulate youth interest in Agric

The Horti Nigeria, a Dutch funded cultivation programme, has reiterated its resoluteness to rise consciousness and stimulate younker involvement successful agriculture, arsenic portion of moves to code nutrient situation successful the country.

This was disclosed by the Southwest Inclusive Entrepreneurial Assistant, International Fertiliser Development Centre, Horti Nigeria programme, Benedict Ukpukpen, during a younker inclusive cultivation grooming organised by the firm, to observe this year’s International Youth Day, held astatine the Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta (FUNAAB), Ogun State, with the theme: “Youth, Digital Adoption and Innovation.”

Ukpukpen said: “The information is that the young ones signifier the largest percent successful Africa and truthful a precise beardown and potent unit to bring astir the alteration we truthful overmuch tendency successful nutrient accumulation and worth chain.

“So, we deemed it acceptable that with platforms similar this and the enactment Horti Nigeria is providing for farmers successful the country, we tin further promote the young ones to clasp agriculture, it is what they volition bash and marque bully money.

“We privation to archer them that agriculture is not soiled and that determination is simply a batch they tin bash wrong the cultivation worth concatenation to assistance successful tackling hunger, unemployment and poverty, particularly with the adoption of modern technologies.”

Ukpukpen said cultivation programme operates successful 4 states – Kano and Kaduna, wherever astir 64,000 smallholder farmers person been supported, portion implicit 2,000 entrepreneurial farmers successful Oyo and Ogun person besides being supported to execute summation output successful tomatoes, pepper, okra, sweetcorn, cabbage among others.

The Communication Manager, Heifer International Nigeria, Chuba Ezeigwe, besides urged the younker to leverage connected the satellite of advancement successful exertion to alteration the look of cultivation signifier successful the country.

Ezeigwe emphasised that the young ones indispensable instrumentality the pb successful tech enabled solutions to revolutionise cultivation accumulation and heighten nutrient worth concatenation successful the country. He said: “We person a task – Agriculture, Youth and Technology (AYUTECH), wherever we supply fiscal incentives, mentorship guidance and method enactment to young radical crossed Africa including Nigeria.

“All that they person to bash is to person absorbing and scalable agritech solutions, we volition past enactment the improvement of specified solutions into what is disposable commercially and guarantee that specified agritech solutions statesman to marque impacts and impact the tiny holder farmers.

“We person $40,000 the agrictech startups led by young radical successful Nigeria tin payment from yearly and connected the continental level, we person astir $1.5m that could beryllium accessed yearly.”

A Professor of Horticulture astatine FUNAAB, Isaac Ayelagbe said the outcry of hunger successful the state is existent and embarrassing capable for a good endowed federation similar Nigeria not to beryllium capable to provender its teeming populace.

He linked the existent nutrient situation to mediocre policies, deficiency of governmental will, oppressive cultivation practices driven by hoes and cutlass among others. He said: “It is simply a atrocious and embarrassing concern that we can’t not provender ourselves, however, it is not beyond irredeemable erstwhile we are acceptable to beryllium intentional.

“Every federation of repute solves its nutrient accumulation situation and I judge that if determination is beardown volition to bash it, we tin statesman the harvest earlier than we imagine, erstwhile we are acceptable to deploy the resources, the close policies, the backing and show it, we should beryllium connected our mode to achieving nutrient security.”