A Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO), Abundance of Hope Initiative, on Saturday in Abuja, trained 20 youths on fish production, management, processing, and marketing. Mr. Taiye Sasona, Executive Secretary of the organization said that the training designed to commemorate the 2021 World Youth Skills Day, was critical in empowering Nigerian youths.
The United Nations General Assembly declared July 15 as World Youth Skills Day to celebrate the importance of equipping young people with skills for employment, decent jobs, and entrepreneurship.
Sasona pointed out the importance of youth empowerment and mentorship in agriculture to promote food security in the country. According to him, “youth should be trained on modern ways of agriculture and agro-businesses in Nigeria and by so doing reduce unemployment in the country.
“As we celebrate this year’s World Youth Skills Day, I urge government at all levels to help young people in changing their perception so that they can view the agricultural sector as an exciting and innovative industry.
“Your participation in agriculture will not only mean more food on the table but will also reduce the unemployment rate in Nigeria.”
He noted that Nigerians were suffering from the consequences of poor decisions made by governments decades ago, negligence, and inappropriate planning which has now led to the importation of the smallest of household items into the country.
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“According to World Health Organisation, we are living in an era where rapid urbanization has led to a decline in rural population, so the majority of the world population live in the city.
“This means seven out of 10 young people are moving from the rural area to the city center leaving few behind to farm what we eat,’’ he said.
While urging the Federal Government to ensure that farmers have easy access to farm implements and organic fertilizer, Sasona expressed worry that most times criteria for getting farm inputs were not easy.
He also appealed to the Federal Government to ensure that farm inputs were affordable and grants, as well as loans, were provided to encourage more youths into agriculture.
