PMB urges West, Central African countries to mobilise youth for agric devt

PMB urges West, Central African countries to mobilise youth for agric devt
…as IFAD clamours for investment on young farmers

ABUJA- AS the 9th regional implementation forum for International Fund Agricultural Development, IFAD, supported projects in West and Central Africa, WCA, in Abuja, kicks off, President Muhammadu Buhari has urged West and Central African countries to mobilise youth for agric development to generate employment, food production and wealth creation.
Buhari who was represented by the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Chief Audu Ogbeh, stated this in his keynote address, where he stated that population rise in Africa could only be sustained by young people in the sector.
The President said measures to curb rural-urban migration and rural development have to be on mobilising and engaging young people in the agric sector by providing the needed technology and provision of basic infrastructure in the rural areas.
He said: “A recent study undertaken by the Brooklyn Institution in 2012 also further underscored that at the continental level, Africa’s estimated (2011) population of 1.2 billion would double by 2050. It is also anticipated that about 70 percent of the population would be constituted by those within the age bracket of 30 years or less. Arising from this development is that the youth issues need to be addressed in both the rural and urban sectors to enable us avoid future problems.
“One of the ways to address this urgent concern is to accord priority attention to the transformation of agricultural production in the rural areas, with the youth population as agent of change and transformation.
“It needs to be restated that notwithstanding the massive depletion in the youth population in the rural areas, the rural sector still occupies a strategic place in our collective endeavour to open new windows of growth in our respective economies for inclusive growth and shared prosperity.
“The new growth not only in Nigeria, but also in our respective countries is driven by the need to transform the rural economy where the smallholder farmers are presently predominant by mobilising our youth to embrace agriculture as worthy and profitable occupation.”
However, following the challenge of implementing world-class blueprints in the sector the President also urged IFAD to focus on implementation of frameworks for sustainable and impactful delivery of programmes and projects through a more accountable, participatory and cost-effective process, and also review past implementation challenges.
Meanwhile, as contained in theme of the forum, ‘Investing in Rural Youth, How do we Plant Seeds for the Future? The President, IFAD, Kanayo Nwanze, in his keynote address called on the governments of West and Central Africa to heavily invest focus on young farmers to curb the unprecedented rise of youth restiveness and social vices.
“Over the past three decades, agricultural productivity has stagnated or declined. This is not good for the continent or for young women and men. It is time to reverse decades of neglect of African agriculture. It must be reversed because when you abandon agriculture you abandon your nation’s ability to feed itself.
“To meet this demand, we need our young people to be the farmers and food processors of tomorrow, not just to feed themselves and their villages, but to grow the food to feed our cities.
“But without investment in infrastructure, in economic activities and employment opportunities, there is an equally big risk that Africa’s demographic dividend will be squandered.
“If we want young people to stay and work in rural areas, there needs to be considerable investment in infrastructure. These include investment in processing plants, electricity, warehouses, roads and ports.
“I have confidence that if governments and development partners do their part by planting the seeds for the future, Africa’s young people are ready to rejuvenate Africa’s agricultural sector and help Africa take its place as a leader in the developing and developed world”, Nwanze stated.




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