The IITA Youth in Agribusiness (YAS) project has supported trained participants in Oyo State with input and various equipment to facilitate business start-up and expansion in agriculture. The event continues with similar exercises held in Abuja, Kano, and Ogun.
The support items include a solar irrigation system, rotary slashers, a de-feathering machine, improved cassava stems, fertilizers, Garri fryers, water tanks, vegetable seeds, fish and poultry feed, seedling trays, coco peat, packs of improved maize varieties, generator, irrigation drips, knapsack sprayers, and Garri pressers.
Speaking at the event, Head of IITA Genetic Resources Center (IITA-GRC), Professor Michael Abberton, who represented the Senior Management Team, congratulated the participants for being courageous and dedicated during the training. He advised them to leverage the support network created by the project to move their businesses forward.
He stated, “Engagement of youths in agribusiness has been the IITA Youth Agripreneurs (IYA) focus over the last decade, so this initiative is very important to IITA. In return, your businesses will be able to scale up, in addition to the people you bring into employment by your expansion and the businesses you create. So, congratulations for being part of this. We appreciate the sponsor, the Kingdom of the Netherlands, for supporting young agripreneurs.
“With your cassava, fish, horticulture, poultry, cassava processing, and other commodities you are involved in, this is a good start. The support network has been created, and I hope you will continue to leverage it to expand your businesses. We look forward to seeing your businesses expand.”
The Chief Executive Officer, IITA Youth Agripreneurs, Aline Mugisho, represented by a Business Development Expert in the unit, Idowu Osun, called on the participants to embrace the coaching and mentorship program for all past project participants.
He added, “We have a large pool of participants year after year with whom you can network, and we have a top-notch coaching and mentorship program that will help you. We encourage you to stay in touch. Feel free to disturb us; that is our work. Agribusiness is big business, and we are here to support you.”
Additionally, the Project Coordinator, Adebayo Awotodunbo, said YAS would continue to sustain its relationship with its participants, adding, “We want the training to translate to enterprises and then to big businesses, which is why we supported you with items that are critical to your agro-businesses.
“We want you to scale up your businesses to get better income and be employers of labor in your communities, and these inputs will help to make it happen. Above that, we want you to contribute to food security in Nigeria.
“We thank the Kingdom of the Netherlands for sponsoring this project. As the monitoring and evaluation team visited all the businesses for evaluation, they will be back to see the level of your utilization of this input and recommend whether we should provide more input. But you are out of the scheme if you have sold the items.”
One of the participants, Kushimo-Festus Oluwakemi, thanked the project for the training and support. She added, “You have impacted us, and we will not let you down. For all the input you have given us today, we promise to make you proud because we will use it wisely, and by the time you come back to check on us, you will be glad you gave us this support.”
The project partners represented at the event included the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), HortiNigeria, YSJ Limited, and Farm Help Agro.
Benedict Ukpukpen, who represented HortiNigeria, stated, “We are proud to be part of this impactful initiative, a critical step towards empowering young agripreneurs and strengthening our agricultural value chains. At Horti Nigeria, we believe that access to the right input, knowledge, and network is key to unlocking the potential of youth in transforming agriculture. We encourage you to make the most of them, apply climate-smart practices, and continue to build agribusinesses that contribute to food security, economic growth, and sustainable development.”
In addition, the representative of ILRI, Dr Odekunle, congratulated the IITA and YAS project for the “unrelenting efforts,” adding, “I facilitated some of the training for poultry farmers, and I’m so happy seeing some of the faces in class here. Look at this support as a great opportunity. Using all the things given to you and practicing what you were taught will go a long way in your business. Do not dump the materials given to you, and do not be like those who sell the support they receive. When you practice what you have been trained in, together with this support, it will encourage other young people to embrace agriculture.”
Contributed by Jesutofunmi Robinson
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