ARMSTRONG ALLAHMAGANI, Bauchi
Thirty youths selected across five northern states who were trained on good agricultural practices, soil sampling and testing techniques for Empowering African Youth (EMAY) and Agripromoters Project by a Morrocan Fertilizer Company, Office Chérifien des Phosphates, (OCP Africa), in partnership with the Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University, Bauchi, are to receive over N27 million as stipend for three months.
The African young leaders, drawn from Sokoto, Kaduna, Nassarawa, Niger and Bauchi states, were trained on good agricultural practices, soil sampling and testing techniques for Empowering African Youth (EMAY) and Agripromoters Project.
Speaking in an interview on Sunday at the end of the one week long training, which held at the Bauchi State Agriculture Development Programme, the Senior Agronomist, OCP Nigeria, Dr. Donald Madukwe, explained that the Company is giving the trainees N30,000 monthly stipends for three months to enable them start their business without difficulty.
Madukwe said that in addition to the three months stipends, the beneficiaries were also given tricycles, digital tablets for farmer data collection, digital soil laboratory test kits among others.
“OCP is empowering them with the equipment they need to work. Today, we are giving them Android Tablets because this is also a digital drop we have created for them, the tablets will enable them collect farmers’ data, collect reference soil samples from farmers’ fields.
“We’re equipping them with digital soil lab kits and they have other tools such as soil orga and sampling materials they need to carryout this work.
“OCP is also going to support them for the first three months of their activities with stipends before they can be able to start generating revenue from this venture.
“They also have tricycles, each of these young leaders will have these items and the tricycles are to enable them convey their laboratory to various locations as well as convey farm inputs to the various locations which they can make margins for.
“OCP is also prepared to release inputs to them and they can deliver additional margins.
“They will get nothing less than N30,000 each monthly stipends for three months that will enable them at least fuel the tricycles around and maybe for other emergencies. They are not being employed, it is just a stipend to support them,” he stated.
According to him, the training was in order to encourage the youth to participate in agriculture and to encourage them take charge and create value along the value chains of agriculture because it is the new shift that is needed.
He said that the training is aimed at equipping the youth to be entrepreneurs, to fend for themselves, create value and earn a living.
On concerns about food insecurity in the country occasioned by the COVID-19 pandemic and the insecurity which has prevented many from going to the farms, he said that his company sees the COVID-19 pandemic as an opportunity to make the youth to be self-sufficient.
Madukwe said: “At OCP, we believe that beyond Coronavirus, there’ll be life, we believe that this too will pass and we will continue to live, so there’s need to create value.
“For us, Coronavirus is an opportunity for us to create more value, it’s an opportunity for us to empower more youths so that beyond Coronavirus, there’ll be self sufficiency.
“We are trying to use the youths to encourage the farmers not to relent but to keep on because we know with this training these youth have gotten this one week, they’re going to support the farmers and they’re going to improve their productivity and yield beyond self-sufficiency.”
He added that: “One of the trainings they received is good agricultural practices which they are going to hand down to the farmers and more important of all is the soil testing skills and the beginning of good agricultural practices and good yield is soil testing,” he stated.
The OCP Senior Agronomist charged the beneficiaries to be diligent, focused and make the most out of this rare opportunity and also to be good representatives of the states they come from.
The Dean, Faculty of Agriculture, Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University, Bauchi, Prof. Ahmed Fagam, who also answered questions from journalists, said the university signed a Memorandum of Understanding with a Morrocan university called UNCP and another collaboration with OCP Africa which is also a component of that university.
He said that the fertilizer company, based on that MoU organized the one week long training and chosed ATBU as trainers and also chose the Agripromoters and the African Youth Leaders, they are agricultural extension specialists.
Fagam said: “ATBU is only providing the technical know-how through our staff for the training. In order to ensure proper arrangements, particularly in terms of agricultural extension in the country because the country lacks these agricultural extension specialists, they are going to be used as extension officers.
“They will move from one point to another, from one farm to another, from one village to another in their states. They’ll impact by promoting and disseminating agricultural practices including fertilizer applications and agricultural businesses.”
He expressed optimism that because the participants have gotten the full training, they will use it to better their lives and boost agriculture and particularly good production in the country.
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