As part of efforts to help youths access opportunities in agribusiness, ENABLE-TAAT, the youth in agribusiness compact of the Technologies for African Agricultural transformation (TAAT), recently organized a symposium on orange-fleshed sweet potato (OFSP). The symposium, moderated by the compact Communication and Advocacy Officer, Omodolapo Ogunsola, was centered on agribusiness opportunities along the OFSP value chain.
IITA Nigerian National Food Consumption & Micronutrient Project (NFCMS) Dietary Intake Lead, Phorbee Olapeju, facilitated the workshop as she exposed the participants to the technology, benefits, and reasons for improving already existing staple crops. “Sweet potato is a unique crop, but some call OFSP a miracle crop. Not only is it healthy, but it is also a great source of wealth generation. Youths should learn to leverage the awareness they have and not waste it,” she stated.
ENABLE TAAT Business Development officer Idowu Osun led the second phase of the seminar on the OFSP demonstration field at the IITA-Ibadan campus. “ENABLE-TAAT is focusing on reducing youth unemployment. This workshop is to establish a relationship between the youth agripreneurs and value chain experts, and work with them in whatever value chain they are interested. We will also form clusters and cooperatives for those interested,” he said.
In an interview with some of the participants, they expressed the contentment and insight derived from attending the seminar. Sheila Moor, director, Food Army Nigeria, said attending the workshop was vital in gathering information for her start up “OFSP has always been fascinating to me, and I knew I had to be here when I learnt about the workshop. I intend to gather as much information I can to train those willing to explore the crop”, she said.
A farmer, Babatunde Olasupo, said he was willing to take up producing and processing the crop. “I am a farmer; I attended this workshop to gather information as I intend to go into the production and processing of this crop in the next couple of days. I am willing to give OFSP a trial and see how it turns out,” he explained.
TAAT TAAT Program Management Unit Coordinator Chrys Akem explained that while TAAT is not a research project, the initiative is to disseminate research outputs to transform livelihoods. He further expressed his delight on the leverage of the youth compact to work on any commodity. “The youth are not restricted to work with only IITA mandate crops, and they have made it an annual practice to work on a particular crop. They highlight it, have a field day like this and expose people to it. Once there are interested persons in the project, the objective is achieved,” he concluded as the participants witnessed the on-site exposition of the crop’s value chain.
Contributed by Tolulope Akinola
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