A conference recently organized by the IITA Youth in Agribusiness (IYA) Unit has highlighted the importance of cultivating and honing green skills to achieve the dream of having a sustainable world. The “Green Skills for Youth: Towards A Sustainable World” conference was held on 15 August to celebrate this year’s International Youth Day. It featured a panel discussion, exhibition, experience exchange, and networking among young people.
In his opening remark, ENABLE-TAAT Coordinator Noel Mulinganya urged participants to promote integrated practices and actions to ensure a greater quality of life and a greener future.
A panel of diverse specialists shared their wealth of knowledge and experiences on how youths can develop and harness green skills for environmental sustainability.
An introductory video documentary highlighted IYA activities and showcased how agriculture has improved over the years through modern technology developed from research. It revealed the profitability of agriculture for young people, as several youths shared their journey into agribusiness and how well they have progressed.
IITA GoSeed Vegetative Seed Specialist Elohor Mercy Diebiru-Ojo gave a keynote outlining some challenges facing agriculture, which require urgent remediation. She stated that these challenges hold opportunities for youths via green skills. She added that by acquiring green skills, youths are encouraged to be leaders and change drivers. “Youths are the foundation for a sustainable future. Hence, I encourage you all to take charge now for a better future,” she said.
The Director of Youth Empowerment at the African Agricultural Leadership Institute (AALI), Dolapo Ogunsola, gave an overview of the organization’s activities. She noted that AALI provides leadership advisory and youth empowerment services to help take technologies to end-users and facilitate agricultural transformation agenda in countries. She added that AALI President and former IITA Director General Nteranya Sanginga has continued to advance his passion for youth through AALI’s youth empowerment department with a two-pronged approach: “Youth Champions” to influence leadership policy decisions and the “youth brigade” providing extension services within country agricultural transformation agenda.
Light-up Renewable Energy CEO Michael Akinbiyi shared his experience and success story. He stated that he launched a solar energy business with the skills learned during his internship due to unemployment after his National Youth Service. He developed this skill further through scholarship training but had no positive result in the business for a year until IITA Agrihub equipped him. “Today, I am a certified solar energy installer. And my story has revealed that no knowledge is a waste and there is no limit to how far you can go.”
Panelists—IITA FMS Deputy Head Martins Akeredolu, Waste Museum Founder Jumoke Olowookere, SOALBUZZ Integrated Services Operations Manager Samuel Akinnawonu, and AgLane Nigeria Limited COO Kenneth Osanebi—shared their thoughts during a discussion, answering questions like How to assess the response of youths in acquiring green skills; Their experiences in stirring youths to build green skills; and if young people can bank on the prospects of accessing green jobs to learn green skills.
The panelists concluded that “a skill does not have to be agriculture-related to be termed a green skill. The major thing is to discover where one’s skill can contribute to sustainable development and major in it.”
Contributed by Ochuwa Favour Daramola
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