Experts in the agricultural sector have urged both the Federal and State Government to project successful stories of agripreneurs to encourage youths into viable agriculture and agribusiness in the country.
The experts, who spoke with BusinessDay, said that government at all levels are in the best position to stimulate agricultural revival in the country, which has been a great challenge.
The population of farmers in the country have been on the downward trend due to old age and death; this creates the need of getting youths into agriculture and other areas of the value chain, the experts say.
“Project the young people who are already into agriculture by telling their success stories and give them necessary support to get better yields. They are more likely to be inspired by fellow young people,” said Japhet Omojuwa, co-founder, Caerphilly Farms.
“Agriculture is a serious business and not a charity, so if government wants to boost it, it must show certain commitments,” Omojuwa said.
According to the experts, this will boost government efforts to shift focus of youths from white-collar jobs to agriculture, agribusiness as well as reduce rural-urban migration.
Also speaking to BusinessDay in a telephone interview, Abiodun Olorundenro, chief executive officer of Green Vine Farms, said that apart for seeing the success stories of other agripreneurs, youth would find agriculture attractive when the sector becomes mechanised.
“Apart from various agripreneurs success stories, youth will also find agriculture attractive when there is innovation.
“Currently, our agriculture is still involved in a lot of drudgery and this would make it become unattractive to the youths. The average Nigerian youths wants to be involved in a profession were they see others there making it financially and that involves innovation,” Olorundenro said.
He urged the government to provide tractors for farmers and other infrastructures that would help reduce production cost, thereby making agriculture profitable to impact farmers’ livelihoods.
Sani Dangote, vice president, Dangote Industries and president Nigeria Agribusiness Group (NABG), said that youth would only find agriculture attractive when it becomes a business that is profitable and when the country is able to move away from subsistence to commercial agriculture.
“A lot of farmers are still entangled in poverty as a result of low productivity despite the high time they spend on their farmlands. How can the youth go into agriculture when its entrenched in poverty? And this is why NABG is advocating for a revolutionised agric sector by changing the practice,” Dangote said in an exclusive interview with BusinessDay.
“A larger scale of youth will only find agric attractive when the government develop mechanisation and give youths access to land. With this agric becomes attractive for youth to take it as a profession,” the NABG president added.
Josephine Okojie
