Destiny Edoro, a student of Gbagada Senior Grammar School, Bariga, Lagos State, has won the maiden edition of the STEP Agri-Competition.
The STEP Agri-Competition, organized by the Innovative Youth in Agriculture (I-Youth) project, targeted students from public secondary schools in Lagos State. The I-Youth project implemented in partnership with the Mastercard Foundation Young Africa Works targets youth between 15 and 35 years.
The STEP component of the project, which focuses on secondary school students, adopts various innovative approaches to change their perception of agriculture. The STEP Agri-Competition is one of these approaches. It aims to attract the students to learn about modern agriculture, change their perception, and attract stakeholders in the sector to promote agriculture right from secondary school level.
Six students reached the knockout stage from the initial 12 selected contestants. Edoro emerged as the winner of the hour-long competition. The second and third positions went to Joshua David of Comprehensive Senior High School, Alapere, Ketu, and Asokere Misimau of Ajara Senior Comprehensive High School, Badagry, Lagos State.
Edoro was excited to have emerged the winner and said the competition was very tasking and stimulated his interest in researching agriculture.
“This competition has made me research agriculture. It has developed my interest in Agriculture, and I have acquired more knowledge. I hope to train younger ones in agriculture and advance the study in Nigeria,” he stated.
The Commissioner of Education in Lagos State, represented by the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Agriculture, Abolaji Abayomi, commended IITA and the Mastercard Foundation for the initiative. He said such competitions would place prominence on agriculture and assist in eradicating the ill beliefs about the sector.
Young Africa Works Executive Manager Aline Mugisho said the I-Youth project has invested in younger youth to nurture them to build a better future in agriculture. She expressed optimism that a new generation of innovators, agribusiness agripreneurs, and entrepreneurs would emerge from the initiative.
The competition winners were awarded agribusiness enterprise kits, laptops, and tablets.
The STEP Agri-Competition attracted stakeholder participation from the public and private sectors, teachers, parents, and students.
Contributed by Adetola Adenmosun
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