In Awala Madugu Local Government Area of Adamawa State, Naja’atu Isa Sherrif and other women in her community participated in the modern dairy production training organized by the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture in partnership with Sebore Farms International. Sharing the impact of the training Naja’atu stated that they have improved their record-keeping, hygiene and milk-handling processes after the training program. Also, the training according to her provided them with linkage to Sebore Farms which offtakes the milk for the production of yoghurt and other by-products of the company. At the end of the training program, Naja’atu and nine other women were registered as the Awala Women Cooperative, alongside other participants grouped into various cooperatives. The cooperatives received hybrid cows, which will boost their daily milk production, sales and profit. Before the training, Naja’atu and the women produced 15 litres of milk per day from 5 cows. With the introduction […]

The challenge of unemployment in African countries is a high-priority issue, particularly for the youth, who make up a significant portion of the population. In response to this challenge, IITA–CGIAR established the IITA Youth Agripreneurs (IYA) initiative, a youth-in-agribusiness model designed to combat widespread youth unemployment and foster self-employment in agriculture. In August 2012, the institute convened young people at its headquarters in Ibadan, Nigeria, and launched this innovative agribusiness incubation program. Participants received technical expertise, training, and mentorship, which opened their eyes to various business opportunities across agricultural value chains. Within a year, these young entrepreneurs were managing enterprises focused on cassava, maize, soybean, banana, vegetables, fish, and swine while also exploring value addition and food processing. After an 18-month incubation period, participants developed bankable business plans and accessed loans from commercial banks to establish their independent agribusiness enterprises. Many, including young women, have since become owners of successful […]

A former President of Nigeria and Ambassador of the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, has stressed the need for stakeholders in the agricultural sector to introduce some glamour and innovations to farming if young people must find it attractive. The former President, who stated this during the inauguration of the Southern Africa Research and Administrative Facilities of IITA in Zambia, noted that everything necessary must be done to make young people embrace farming. Obasanjo also narrated how he convinced his son, Seun, to embrace farming despite having PhD in Electronics from the University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom. He noted that Seun had, after his PhD programme, got an offer to lecture at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the United States, but that after spending some time on his farm (Obasanjo Farms), he fell in love with farming instead of returning to the US […]