The Innovative Youth in Agriculture (I-Youth) project, implemented by IITA in partnership with Mastercard Foundation Young Africa Works, is extending agribusiness training to secondary school students in Kano, Kaduna, and Lagos states.
I-Youth, through the Start Them Early Program (STEP) component of the project, over the last 18 months, devised several approaches towards attracting students to participate in various activities organized for them to learn modern agriculture in schools and identify career opportunities in the sector.
STEP in I-Youth adopted the hybrid model, which focuses on using the younger youth as agents of agricultural transformation within the school system and in the communities in which they live. The approach is all-encompassing, with students, parents, schools, and the communities benefitting from the opportunities offered by STEP.
This approach incorporates e-learning using audiovisual materials for foundational agriculture training and practical learning by establishing pilot enterprises at the schools and community levels. STEP also integrates extracurricular school clubs and youth outreach services through visits to successful agribusiness enterprises and firms, student competitions and debates, school farm open days, etc.
The student competition tagged “STEP Agri-competition” is the first of its kind in Lagos State and has become popular as I-Youth prepares to hold the competition’s final stage in March 2022.
The idea behind the STEP Agri-Competition is to attract voluntary participation of secondary school students to agriculture, change their perception, and attract the contribution of stakeholders in the sector towards promoting agriculture right from the secondary school level.
In recent times, corporate organizations, government, and other stakeholders in the education sector have organized and sponsored inter-school competitions to renew students’ interest in science-related courses. Agricultural science is one of the courses offered to students that require visibility through similar competitions.
Partnering with the Lagos State Ministry of Education, I-Youth rolled out an online application for secondary school students in Lagos State to apply for the competition. About 260 schools with 491 students registered across the six educational districts in the State.
After the preliminary selection stage, the organizers selected 60 students to participate in the second stage of the competition. Twelve students will compete at the final stage of the competition, while three will eventually emerge as overall competition winners.
The winners will be awarded attractive prizes which the students would use for self-development in agriculture.
I-Youth Executive Manager Aline Mugisho stated that the competition would propel the students into channeling deliberate efforts into identifying a career in agriculture, acquiring knowledge, and developing the right attitude towards agriculture. It will build resilience and determination to develop a mindset focused on agriculture research and development.
“The competition in Lagos State is a pilot phase. We are devising all means to ensure we change the perception of young people about agriculture. This competition will be extended to Kaduna and Kano states, and our dream is to make it a national competition like other competitions of its kind,” Mugisho stated.
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