College empowers 200 Nigerians with poultry kits, capacity building

Two hundred Nigerians have been trained in the art and rudiments of poultry production as part of what the Federal Government calls green revolution agenda to decelerate the unemployment rate and create job opportunities sustainably.

The training programme was undertaken by the Federal College of Animal Health and Production Technology (FCAH&PT), Ibadan, in collaboration with a consulting firm, Realyem OPA Consultancy Ltd.

Provost of the college, Dr Olufunmilayo Adejinmi, revealed that empowerment kits to each of the trainees included 50 day-old chicks, 50kg feeds, drinking and feeding troughs as well as veterinary drugs for the birds.

“The best anyone can do to add value to you is widening your scope in knowledge. The skills you have acquired will go a long way to positively affect your socio-economic life,” she said.

She urged the participants to utilize the empowerment kits given to them and build poultry businesses that would last, employ them and others to realise the larger objectives of food security and employment creation.

Meanwhile, the Director of Vocational Training in the college, Mr Olufemi Banjoko, expressed optimism that the modern techniques in poultry production that the participants were exposed to would help them to become self-employed, creative and productive.

Banjoko said the 200 million population of the country constitutes a strong market where poultry products could not become redundant, urging the participants to see agribusiness opportunities in the growing population and the need for healthy and wholesome foods.

The 200 participants, he said, were selected from all states of the federation in the country.

One of the beneficiaries of the three-day capacity building, one Mr Peter Odion, a retiree from Radio Nigeria, said the capacity building in poultry production would make him manage his backyard poultry well and possibly upscale its production.

Another participant, one Mr Stephen Akinduro, said he had worked in a vet clinic and needed the poultry training to start a farm so he could become self-employed and take care of his family.