{"id":12840,"date":"2026-06-20T12:25:24","date_gmt":"2026-06-20T12:25:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dev.iita.org\/news-item\/ifad-president-shows-support-for-youth-agripreneurship-program-kicks-off-iitas-50th-year-celebration\/"},"modified":"2026-06-20T12:25:24","modified_gmt":"2026-06-20T12:25:24","slug":"ifad-president-shows-support-for-youth-agripreneurship-program-kicks-off-iitas-50th-year-celebration","status":"publish","type":"news-item","link":"https:\/\/iita.org\/fr\/news-item\/ifad-president-shows-support-for-youth-agripreneurship-program-kicks-off-iitas-50th-year-celebration\/","title":{"rendered":"IFAD President shows support for youth agripreneurship program; kicks off IITA\u2019s 50th year celebration"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Dr Kanayo F. Nwanze, President of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (<a title=\"Visit the IFAD website\" href=\"http:\/\/www.ifad.org\/\">FIDA<\/a>)  and the first <a title=\"Visit the Africa Food Prize website\" href=\"http:\/\/www.africafoodprize.org\/\">Africa Food Prize<\/a> recipient, will visit the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) in Nigeria on 19 October, to show support to African youth engaged in agricultural entrepreneurship  and involved in the movement to encourage more youth into productive engagement in agriculture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><figure id=\"attachment_9168\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-9168\" style=\"width: 300px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><a href=\"http:\/\/newint.iita.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/1024_IFAD-Pres-Kanayo-Nwanze-with-IITA-Youth-Agripreneurs.jpg\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"mobileimage wp-image-9168 size-medium\" src=\"http:\/\/newint.iita.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/1024_IFAD-Pres-Kanayo-Nwanze-with-IITA-Youth-Agripreneurs-300x199.jpg\" alt=\"Picture of IFAD Pres Kanayo Nwanze with IITA Youth Agripreneurs in banana macrochamber\" width=\"300\" height=\"199\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-9168\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">IFAD President Kanayo Nwanze with IITA Youth Agripreneurs in banana macrochamber.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The visit, which also kicks off the 50th anniversary celebration of IITA, will highlight some of the evidence-based results on the rejuvenation of Africa through IITA\u2019s intervention  and showcase the impact of youth engagement in agriculture. For the keynote address, Dr Nwanze will be talking about <em>Youth  and Agripreneurship as an Engine of Growth for National Development<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Dr Nwanze first visited IITA in August 2012  and talked on Rejuvenation: Investing in agriculture  and young people. This provided the wake-up call for youth corps members at IITA who were encouraged to go into agriculture  and establish profitable agribusiness enterprises that would create wealth  and jobs for the unemployed youth in Nigeria  and Africa. During that visit, he had planted a tree at IITA headquarters in Ibadan. The tree symbolizes the birth of the IITA Youth Agripreneurs (IYA)\u2014a youth-in-agribusiness program that has now taken root  and has become a model for youth engagement in development that is being adopted across the continent. In his speech, Dr Nwanze emphasized that investing in young people in the rural areas is a \u201csimple solution to some of the world\u2019s most pressing problems such as poverty  and hunger,  and curtails migration to urban centers.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI congratulate IITA on its 50th anniversary  and for its continued efforts in finding solutions to hunger, malnutrition,  and poverty through research. I also applaud the IITA Youth Agripreneurs program, a model for youth engagement in agriculture  and development.\u00a0 Young people who have prospects can build foundations for their future. But young people who have no prospects have nothing to lose  and are more easily swayed by rhetoric  and extreme acts of desperation,\u201d said Dr Nwanze.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The youth agripreneurship program has quickly exp anded  and is now being outscaled to other states in Kano, Abuja, Borno,  and Onne in Nigeria  and with other African countries under the Empowering Novel Agribusiness-Led Employment for Youth in African Agriculture (ENABLE Youth) Program funded by the African Development Bank.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">With the ENABLE Youth Program, over 8 million agribusiness jobs will be created within 5 years for youth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">As part of the 50th year opening program, representatives of IYA from other chapters in Nigeria will debate on agriculture-related topics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">According to IITA Director General Nteranya Sanginga, the Institute\u2019s\u00a050th anniversary celebration provides the opportunity to celebrate the Institute\u2019s achievements  and partnerships, but will also strongly highlight future strategies for shaping the food  and nutrition security agenda over the next 50 years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cIFAD has been a major partner of IITA in efforts to ensure that the millions of Africans have food  and nutritional security. With the support of IFAD, we will continue to provide solutions to global challenges, but especially pressing development problems in Africa, including youth unemployment,\u201d said Dr Sanginga.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">IITA was established in July 1967 as the first African link to a network of international agricultural research  and development organizations that is working for a food-secure future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">###<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Hashtag: #iita50<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Streaming link: \u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/ddqsDuy5Dv8\">https:\/\/youtu.be\/ddqsDuy5Dv8<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">About IITA www.iita.org<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) is a non-for-profit institution that generates agricultural innovations to meet Africa\u2019s most pressing challenges of hunger, malnutrition, poverty,  and natural resource degradation. Working with various partners across sub-Saharan Africa, we improve livelihoods, enhance food  and nutrition security, increase employment,  and preserve natural resource integrity. IITA is a member of CGIAR, a global agriculture research partnership for a food secure future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Contact<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Katherine Lopez, Head of Communication, IITA, <a href=\"mailto:k.lopez@cgiar.org\">k.lopez@cgiar.org<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Dr Kanayo F. Nwanze, President of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and the first Africa Food Prize recipient, will visit IITA in Nigeria on 19 October.<\/p>","protected":false},"featured_media":0,"template":"","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}}},"tags":[317],"science-area":[],"program":[],"location":[32],"news-type":[],"hub":[],"crop":[],"impact-areas":[],"item-year":[194],"class_list":["post-12840","news-item","type-news-item","status-publish","hentry","tag-iita50youthyouth-agripreneurs","location-nigeria","item-year-194"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/iita.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-item\/12840","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/iita.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-item"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/iita.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/news-item"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/iita.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-item\/12840\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/iita.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12840"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iita.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12840"},{"taxonomy":"science-area","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iita.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/science-area?post=12840"},{"taxonomy":"program","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iita.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/program?post=12840"},{"taxonomy":"location","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iita.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/location?post=12840"},{"taxonomy":"news-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iita.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-type?post=12840"},{"taxonomy":"hub","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iita.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/hub?post=12840"},{"taxonomy":"crop","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iita.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/crop?post=12840"},{"taxonomy":"impact-areas","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iita.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/impact-areas?post=12840"},{"taxonomy":"item-year","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iita.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/item-year?post=12840"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}