By Ginika Okoye
Abuja – The Federal Government has called on youths to participate in agriculture, with a view to improving agricultural production, ensuring food security and reducing malnutrition in the country.
Chief Audu Ogbeh, the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, made the call at the maiden convention of the National Association of Agricultural Students (NAAS) in Abuja on Friday.
He pledged that the government would support the youth through capacity building and credit facilities from finance institutions to assist them in the venture.
The minister, who was represented by Mrs Mosunmola Umoru, his Special Adviser on Youths and Gender, stressed that increased involvement of youths in agriculture would boost the country’s efforts to increase produce exports and attain food security.
Ogbeh said that the government was engaging the services of research institutes and its universities of agriculture in efforts to develop adequate technologies that would help young farmers to improve production.
“The average age of a farmer now is between 60 and 65 years. We need the youth to take over from us, to handle our tractors and threshers in order to make agriculture a lucrative business.
“This is very important for the economic diversification efforts of the Federal Government to be a reality.
“We are engaging our research institutes as well as our universities of agriculture to develop good technologies,’’ he said.
In his speech, Prof. Emmanuel Sonaiya of the Department of Animal Science, Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), called for the prompt adoption of strategies to change the negative perceptions of agriculture in the country.
He said that that most young Nigerians viewed agriculture as the occupation of old people.
Sonaiya said that the NAAS convention, which had “Technology in Agriculture, Youth Empowerment and Economy Development’ as its theme, was apt because it aimed at sensitising the youth to modern, mechanised methods of farming.
He said that modern technology applications in agriculture were vital in efforts to encourage youths to go into farming.
“Agriculture is a risk; the Nigerian society has not connected the youth to agriculture; current efforts are exposing youths mainly to the hoe-and-cutlass agriculture, which is what they despise.
“To attract youths, the country must make agriculture an attractive brand to the youth.
“Coaching and mentoring must be consistently provided in the business, and the adoption of modern technology is key.
“Youths want enterprises with speedy returns,’’ he said.
Sonaiya, nonetheless, advised youths who were interested in agriculture to first start with the marketing aspect of agriculture before going into actual production.
Some of the students, who spoke at the convention, appealed to the government to provide farmlands and finance for them, adding that the lack of farmlands and funding were major factors discouraging them from engaging in agriculture.