90 corps members, farmers get training on agribusiness

Over 90 National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) members, aspiring Agripreneurs and budding farmers have been tutored on the opportunities in the food and agriculture value chain.

The training held at the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), Ibadan, Oyo State by Nestlé Nigeria in partnership with IITA, was in commemoration of the 2019 International Youth Day.

The initiative, according to the organisers focused on several programmes and campaigns to boost entrepreneurship and employability among the youth through career fairs and skills training, to equip young people to find decent employment or profitable entrepreneurship.

The Country Human Resources Manager Nestlé Nigeria, Mr. Sola Akinyosoye, highlights that celebrating the 2019 International Youth Day is an opportunity to draw the attention of youths to available opportunities in agriculture.

“Through the ‘Nestlé Needs Youth’ initiative, there is a focus on the creation of job opportunities and empowerment for the youth. We do this around three pillars; one of them is employment and employability. We ensure that we train, equip and give support for young Nigerians so they can be self-employed and get employment with us or other companies,” Akinyosoye said.

In his comment, Chief Executive Officer, Business Incubation Platform, IITA, Dr. Fredrick Schreurs, said youth engagement would pave way for sustainable growth in the agriculture sector. “We take technology coming from IITA and disseminate them to the markets; in line with this, we create jobs for youth Agripreneurs.