KAYODE AKINADE,Ibadan.
About 300 youths graduated again under the Oyo State Youth Entrepreneurship In Agribusiness Program (YEAP) after completing their training at the CSS Global Integrated Farms, Gora, Nasarawa State.
The YEAP program started on 8th of August, 2021 and has seen three thousand three hundred youths drawn from across the 33 Local Government Areas of the state trained in Nasarawa
While receiving the 300 beneficiaries who just arrived from Nasarawa, director-general of Oyo State Agribusiness Development Agency, OYSADA, Debo Akande, who commended the state Governor, Oluseyi Makinde said the state government will engage the 33 Local Government Chairmen to provide land for the graduands to start deploying the acquired knowledge.
The state government under the leadership of Governor Seyi Makinde, he said, has directed the various local governments to provide land for these youths which is one of the basic things they need.
Akande who was represented by Olufemi Ilori, the Director of YEAP and Technical Service, OYSADA also said the state government has made provisions for financial support for the YEAP graduands which will be rolled out in batches adding that the financial aspect has been guaranteed by the state government so that as the last batch arrived today the next step is to do them to be set up.
The farmlands which will be provided for Agribusiness purposes will be given to the youths grouped into clusters for effective monitoring of their developmental process.
“YEAP’s main objective is to empower youths through agriculture and agriculture value chain, as governor Makinde once stated that addressing youth unemployment and channeling them towards productive ventures, is a top priority of his government.
The training, he pointed out, was part of the state government’s commitment towards preparing the youths ahead of the Agricultural revolution in the state in terms of acquisition of necessary skills to key into the government’s Agricultural agenda.
“The journey to Nasarawa state started on the 8th of August last year and has ended. It was not an easy journey. We thank God that we never recorded any form of casualty from the start of the program till the end because Governor Makinde provided everything needed for the success we have recorded.
“This is the eleventh batch of three hundred youths per batch making it three thousand three hundred persons. One hundred per local government because we have 33 local governments in Oyo state. The significance of this training is the empowerment so that the youths can be able to take up the challenges of Agribusiness. After production what next? The value chain and they have learnt all of that in Nasarawa as they have been well equipped for the work ahead.
While assuring that the state government will commence implementation of the next phase as soon as possible, he stated that all participants have been captured through biometric means.
The youths numbering about three hundred recounted their experiences during the Agribusiness training program and expressed their satisfaction towards the way and manner they were taken care of throughout the training program.
While noting that the training was all agribusiness inclusive one of the beneficiaries, Niyi Oluwabunmi Esther from Ogbomoso North local government area said going to Nasarawa has changed her perception about many things including keying into the agribusiness value chain to earn a decent living and being financially independent.
Also, Adeyinka Okanlawon from Saki West Local Government area of Oke-Ogun zone said the training has exposed him to various opportunities in agribusiness.
Another beneficiary, Olajire Aduragbemi Kehinde from Ido local government area of Ibadan said “I really learnt a lot from the training program from the greenhouses to agro-phonix the six ways of cultivating cassava without weeding as well as how to add value to farm produce keying into the agribusiness value chain.
Ayatu Unubi Paul, who spoke on behalf of non-indigenes and the youth leader of the Igala community in Oyo state, said he is ready to go fully into maize farming saying his choice was based on the high demand for the farm produce for consumption and also for further agro feeds processing for fish production.