The Agricultural Development Farmers Association (ADFA), Oyo State, has inaugurated the Oyo Young Agropreneur (OYAP) in Ibadan, the state capital, to encourage youths in the state to take advantage of various opportunities in the sector.
The Minister of Agriculture, Sabo Nanono represented by Dr. Marcus Ogunbiyi, the Zonal Director of the Federal Ministry of Agriculture (Southwest), encouraged young people to work in agriculture and leverage the opportunities the government is providing.
Prof. Veronica Obatolu, Director, Institute of Agricultural Research and Training (IAR&T), Moor Plantation, presented a keynote address themed “Agribusiness: Unexploited Opportunities for Youths in Oyo State, Nigeria”.
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She said that if the younger generation gets it right, agriculture will be Nigeria’s greatest opportunity to drive inclusive and sustainable growth because the sector is packed with enough potential to ensure sustainable development.
Miss Ibukunoluwa Tubi , the Oyo State Coordinator of the Young Agropreneur (OYAP), said that the next billionaires would come from agriculture because agriculture is the new oil business .
She said that it is important for youths to realize that the majority of billionaires outside the country are agro-preneurs. She noted that the platform is all about providing young people with the right skills and knowledge of what it takes to be successful in agribusiness.
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Mrs. Olusola Sowemimimo, an organic farmer from Ogun State, posited that youth need to find their passion, build capacity, network and learn the best production practices.
Present at the inauguration were stakeholders and farmers’ groups from across Nigeria including representatives from the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture, the National Centre for Genetic Resources and Biotechnology (NACGRAB), and the National Horticultural Research Institute (NIHORT).
Also in attendant were delegates from the Forestry Research Institute of Nigeria (FRIN), the Cocoa Research Institute of Nigeria (CRIN), the Nigeria Incentive-Based Risk Sharing System for Agricultural Lending, and the Women’s Research and Documentation Centre (WORDOC).
