Agric entrepreneurs woo youth into food production

ABUJA-A group of young agric entrepreneurs have taken the initiative to woo youth across the country to engage in food production following the aged farmers in the sector were not meeting food demands of Nigerians.
This was stated by the group during the unveiling of ‘Agricultural Role’ project in Abuja, where the Creative Director of the project, Miss Tamo Irueme, said the initiative was to couple agriculture and entertainment and make farming attractive to youth in the country.
Irueme stressed that the youth cannot be left behind in the policy direction of the government in the agricultural sector, because there were a lot of prospects for them to be self employed and create wealth as they produce food for over 180 million Nigerians.
Irueme: “The unveiling of ‘Mr and Miss Agriculture Project’ in Abuja, is to infuse agriculture into entertainment and make farming attractive to the youth.
“The idea of diversifying the economy may remain a pipe dream unless the youth are keyed into finding the prospect of agriculture exciting and employ their efforts to it.
“By creating agricultural role model via ‘Mr and Miss Agriculture’, and creating a face towards the venture, youths will be galvanised to consider agriculture as a career path.”
According to her, the group has concluded and would soon launch a reality show and as well as training programme on farming, processing and packaging of farm produce.
Explaining more on the proposed entertainment side of agriculture she said, “We are currently in talks with different organisations, and interested youth will be selected from the six geopolitical zones.
“And after that they will visit four states to learn different farming skills before arriving back to Abuja. At the end of the tour winners of the pageant would be able to package agricultural produce to sell at home and export abroad.”
Also, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Youth and Student Matters, Nasir Sa'idu Adhama, acknowledged that the agriculture sector serves as an avenue for youth employment.
Adhama who was represented by his Technical Assistant, khalifa Usman, assured of government’s support for the project, because it will fast track the diversification and development of the sector, and position it for business that will be driven by young people. 

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