AN Abuja-based Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO), the Salad Greenhouse Nigeria Ltd, Managing Director, MrAliyu Ibrahim has disclosed that it would train 1,000,000 youths in various agricultural practices in Abuja recently.
Ibrahim said the NGO will commence the training from the first quarter of 2016 in a programme tagged “one million Youths in Commercial Agriculture in Nigeria and Grassroots Organic Agriculture Technology Initiative”. He also revealed that the programme which will be in partnership with the Youth Programme on Agriculture Entrepreneurship Development (YPAED), will produce future young agricultural entrepreneurs.
The NGO Managing Director explained that the programme is a nationwide project, focusing on the youths and their contribution to the development of agriculture and it will also create a support structure for the Youth Agriculture Entrepreneurs (YAE).This, he said,” will guide them on how to invest in agriculture for economic growth and food security”, adding that after the training, they will be able to conceive their own business ideas and establishing their own farms.
Ibrahim further expressed that participants in the programme would be grouped into teams, each of which would produce a small scale business plan to include a vision to explore existing markets, adding that they will be able to clearly state their proposal on a Business Model Canvas, which is the required standard for start-ups.
Ibrahim also see the programame as a catalyst to mobilise communities towards inspiring shared strengths and values of agriculture in wealth creation and food security, reiterating that the project is designed as a national initiative to be driven by a result oriented team representing a diverse mix of organisations working together.
The organisations, he said will include the Federal Ministry of Youth Development (FMYD), Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (FMARD), the Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC) and the Bank of Agriculture (BOA), among others.