The National Directorate of Employment (NDE) has trained and empowered 1,850 Nigerians on an agro-entrepreneurship business across the states of the federation.
The agro-preneurship training and empowerment exercise took place across the 36 states and FCT Abuja, according NDE, was executed in two phases and it is meant to be a source of income to the beneficiaries and added vantage to the livestock production chain of the country.
A statement in Abuja through NDE’s head, Information and Public Relations, Israel Adekitan, said the director general of the Directorate, Mallam Abubakar Nuhu-Fikpo, said the empowerment programme was one of the many efforts of the federal government towards curbing the challenges of unemployment, especially among the youth and women groups.
“Engagement of unemployed youth in goat production business along its value chain will play an important role in the socio-economic and environmental life of the farming communities in terms of income and supply of food for the local population and the country at large,” NDE DG said.
The statement further stated that: “The director-general added that through the training scheme, the participants will be able to earn income, improve the livelihood of the rural people, create employment, reduce rural-urban migration, provide raw materials for leather manufacturing industries, enhance protein intake for the populace, reduce poverty and create wealth.
“During the one week programme, the participants went through intensive skills development in goat production technology along its value chain using the revolving model of empowerment.
“Three states from each of the 6 geo-political zones in the country and the FCT were selected for the first phase of the empowerment exercise. Fifty people, mainly youth and women were recruited for the exercise in each of the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
“Flagging off the training exercise at the Agricultural Skills Training Centre in Bwari, FCT, Abuja, the director-general said that the federal government through the NDE has continuously identified opportunities for job creation in the agricultural value chain for successful management of demand- driven and viable agribusinesses.
“He informed the people that Rural Employment Promotion Programme of the NDE, unlike other training schemes, was specially designed to generate rural and urban employment for the jobless and to improve income for wealth creation through agribusiness engagements.
“During the practical demonstration of the training scheme, knowledgeable resource persons from relevant reputable organisations were engaged to expose the trainees to the practical management of goat fattening and breeding. The participants were also put through many relevant courses which include management of goat housing, breeding techniques and methods, prevention and control of diseases, artificial insemination, natural mating, processing/packaging of goat meat, marketing of goat products: meat, milk, skin and waste.”