NYSC partners with IITA to create opportunities for Nigerian youth
January 6, 2021
The National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) and IITA are partnering to open up opportunities to youth in Nigeria. The two organizations signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to that effect during a recent visit of the NYSC Director General, Brigadier General Shuaibu Ibrahim, to IITA Headquarters, Ibadan.
IITA Deputy Director General, Partnerships for Delivery, Kenton Dashiell, welcomed the NYSC delegation at the Akin Adesina building. He gave an overview of IITA’s history, and Kwesi Atta-Krah, IITA Director of Advocacy and Country Alignment Function, explained the Institute’s activities. The visitors saw more of these as they embarked on a tour of IITA research facilities and innovations.
NYSC DG, Brig. Gen. Shuaibu Ibrahim, and Kenton Dashiel, IITA DDG Partnerships for Delivery, signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU).
After the tour, Dashiell said that youth have great potential, but they can only realize this when organizations like NYSC and IITA open the doors of opportunities they need. “While we value our partnership with NYSC, we would like the youth to see and experience greater opportunities in agriculture and develop the skills they need to succeed in this sector. I believe that if IITA works with NYSC on this, it will be a gamechanger,” Dashiell said.
Dashiell appreciated the NYSC team for their service to the nation and their interest in collaborating with IITA.
Gen. Ibrahim encouraged the corps members in IITA who are interested to tap into this opportunity and grow this partnership to the next level.
NYSC DG and team in a group photograph with IITA corpers and staff.
As he signed the MoU, the NYSC DG recommended that both organizations have a desk officer to act as an interface to meet timelines. He appreciated IITA, especially Director General Nteranya Sanginga, for his immense contribution to the youths’ success and assured taking the collaboration between IITA and NYSC to greater heights.
Olamide Deborah Nwanze is a Senior Research Associate specializing in gender mainstreaming research to inform participatory and inclusive breeding, variety development, and seed systems policies regarding root, tuber, and banana (RTB) crops in the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture Headquarters, Ibadan, Nigeria. She is a PhD candidate at the University of Ibadan and holds an MSc and B. Agric in Agricultural Extension and Rural Development. Olamide is a fellow of the African Women in Agricultural Research and Development – Gender Responsive Agricultural Systems Policy (AWARD-GRASP) and the Gender Responsive Researchers Equipped for Agricultural Transformation (GREAT). She seeks to apply her gender-mainstreaming learnings, gender-responsive research, and policy development, and review expertise to facilitate women, youth, children, and vulnerable social group’s access to and adoption of agricultural Innovations that guarantee food, nutrition, income, and livelihood security in Africa. Her current roles include mentoring research fellows, development of guides and training manuals, implementation and adaptation of gender frameworks and tools, value chain actors’ engagement as citizen science partners, policy review and redesign, data management, and analysis. Her current research explores mixed methods and participatory and interdisciplinary approaches to capture and highlight gender dynamics, needs, preferences, and challenges stakeholders face within the agricultural livelihood value chain to prioritize gender-inclusive strategies in breeding programs, policy design, and implementation.
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After the tour, Dashiell said that youth have great potential, but they can only realize this when organizations like NYSC and IITA open the doors of opportunities they need. “While we value our partnership with NYSC, we would like the youth to see and experience greater opportunities in agriculture and develop the skills they need to succeed in this sector. I believe that if IITA works with NYSC on this, it will be a gamechanger,” Dashiell said.
Dashiell appreciated the NYSC team for their service to the nation and their interest in collaborating with IITA.
Gen. Ibrahim encouraged the corps members in IITA who are interested to tap into this opportunity and grow this partnership to the next level.
