Federal Government To Empower Youths With N59.7bn Agriculture Scheme
International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) says that the Federal Government would launch N59.7 billion Youth-In-Agriculture Scheme in September.
Director-General, IITA, Dr Nteranya Sanginga, said this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Sunday in Ibadan.
He said the scheme would be sponsored by the federal government and African Development Bank (AFDB).
Sanginga, said IITA would train those enrolled in the scheme, adding that beneficiaries would be trained on how to make agriculture a business with good networking.
The Director-General said the programme tagged “Enable Youth Empowerment Agribusiness programme” will engage youths in agribusiness for 18 months to enable them learn how to make agric business plan.
He added that each participant will be given between 25,000 US Dollars and 300,000 US Dollars as loan to start a business.
Initially, the programme was started by IITA in 2012, before the federal government and AFDB took over the scheme to create employment in agricultural sector.
Sanginga said that to achieve the objective of the programme, it will be extended to 36 states and Abuja in September.
He hoped that at the end of the programme, the youths will become creators of jobs rather than job seekers.
