Worried by the growing level of poverty among youth and women especially those affected by insecurity in the region, the Taraba State government has so far trained 720 women and youths in various skills and trade.
The training under the Inclusive Basic Services Delivery and Livelihood Empowerment Integrated Project has a plan to train and empower more people in 2022.
Lead Officer, Livelihood and Economic Recovery of the project, Margaret Bulus, disclosed this in an interview with our correspondent in Jalingo on Friday.
According to her, 600 women in 10 Local Government Areas where the project took place were trained in various trades such as crop farming, animal husbandry, and poultry, adding that more women especially in the Internally Displaced Persons camp would be trained in 2022.
She said, “The training is being done courtesy of our Governor, Darius Ishaku, who brought the project to Taraba for the benefit of the people of the state who has also suffered insurgency and other conflicts.
“Our infrastructure has been overstretched as a result of the influx of the IDPs from Adamawa, Borno, and Yobe and the Governor applied for the loan from African Development Bank which we are using to finance these activities.
“Through our Livelihood Support and Economic Recovery, we are building practical workshops that will train people in automobile, leather production, building, tailoring, woodwork, and carpentry.
“After training them, we give them access to finance and link them to the right markets to boost their productivity, reduce poverty and create employment.
“Already we are planning to give a grant to the trainees and starter packs for them to start their businesses. All of these are geared towards the empowerment of the youth and women to reduce poverty, take the youths off the streets and make them better and productive citizens.”
Bulus thanked Ishaku for his vision in bringing the programme to the State for the benefit of citizens and urged the beneficiaries to take the training seriously to better their lives.