Agribusiness: 48 youths get N50,000 each for investment

Fatima Maiduguri

Abba

Sanda,

The National Directorate of Empowerment (NDE) has disbursed N50,000 each to 48 youths to start off farm businesses and employ others to reduce unemployment in Borno State.

The Director-General of the NDE, Malam Abubakar Fikpo, disclosed this during the flag

The Nigerian Women for Agricultural Progress has raised concern over their neglect in most of the country’s agricultural interventions.

Speaking at their national convention yesterday in Abuja, the national coordinator of the association, Mrs. Omolara A Svensson, said they were committed to changing agribusiness narratives in order to become the leading light of sustainable progress for Nigerian women farmers.

Pointing out the disparity between governmental interventions and the actual needs of women farmers, she called on the President, the First Lady, the Ministers of Agriculture and Food Security, Women Affairs to reevaluate their approach, adding that there was a need for direct collaboration with women farmers for a more inclusive off of the Community- Based Agricultural Empowerment Scheme (CBAES) in Maiduguri on Tuesday.

Represented by the state Coordinator of the NDE, Mohammed Gaji Galadima, the DG said the beneficiaries drawn from the pool of Rural Employment Promotion (REP) trained in their chosen area of interest.

“First, you have been trained in modern agriculture and life skills to be able to overcome the challenges of your immediate environment.

“Secondly, the facility you are receiving today provides you with the required assistance for entrepreneurship. You should therefore justify these efforts by utilizing the facility and putting in your best to succeed as agric entrepreneurs,” he said.

The DG also reaffirmed the NDE’s commitment to continue to do its best in addressing the challenges of unemployment in the country.

Earlier, the representative of the CBAES department from Abuja, Hauwa Ibrahim, urged the beneficiaries to make good use of the facility and become successful entrepreneurs in the agribusiness.