The National Directorate of Employment (NDE) on Friday flagged off the Sustainable Agricultural Empowerment Scheme (SADES), Community Based Agricultural Empowerment Scheme (CABES) Agricultural Enhancement Scheme (AES) and the Graduate Agricultural Empowerment Scheme (GARES) in Cross River State.
Flagging off the orientation ceremony for the 108 beneficiaries of the loan scheme in Calabar at the Conference Hall of the Federal Secretariat, Abubakar Nuhu Fikpo, the director-general of (NDE) said the gesture was part of the Federal Government effort to address rising high level of unemployment in the Country.
The NDE as an agency of the Federal Government is saddled with the responsibility for reorienting the unemployed youths to de-emphasised the search for paid jobs and embrace self-employment.
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Fikpo who was represented by Gabriel Udam, the state coordinator of NDEstated that the programme trains unemployed youths in Agricultural chain of activities such as production, storage, processing, post harvest, handling, management, preservation, packaging and marketing.
“Today we are here to flag off the orientation ceremony of the beneficiaries of four Empowerment Scheme of the Rural Empowerment Promotion Department in Cross River State”
He said under the scheme, 108 graduated trainees of the Rural Employment Promotion training schemes in Cross River State were empowered with micro small loans of one hundred thousand naira each to enable them set up and manage small scale Agricultural enterprises in their chosen area of interest to become self-reliant, create and generate employment opportunities.
Earlier in his remarks, the director of rural employment promotion Dr Michael Mbata said the gesture was meant to encourage the Youths to be self-reliant by starting up their own businesses.
Mbata who was represented by Blessings Owan disclosed that the loan was not a gift but meant to improve their businesses.
According to him, beneficiaries were drawn from all the 18 local government areas of Cross River State. A total of ,3996 beneficiaries across the Country benefited from the programme.
