Making agribusiness glamorous for youths

A former Nigerian President, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo and the Ambassador of The Netherlands to Nigeria, Wouter Plomp, have called on stakeholders to glamourise agriculture to make it attractive to the young people. The duo spoke at this year’s edition of the Agrofood Fair, held in Lagos, stated that the area that is sure to provide the teeming population employment is agriculture.

Obasanjo, while speaking said, “You have to make agriculture glamorous. We must make life in the rural area more attractive to them; they need the right red light in the rural area as well. We must be able to make life outside the city attractive for our youths so that they will be ready and willing to join hands to get their hands dirty and their foot wet in the agribusiness area. With our teeming population and the problem we have with our youths going over the deserts and risking their lives at the Mediterranean, the area that is sure to provide our teeming population employment is agriculture. When you talk about agriculture, not many of them will want to come to the farm, they will rather go into the music that they now do.

“If we are able to achieve this, it will improve our security. Part of our insecurity are men and women that are not properly engaged. If we are able to give them employment, there will be less of them getting involved in banditry, in kidnapping and in doing various other criminal activities that they get involved in”, he said. Plomp, while speaking said, according to the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), the agriculture sector is the largest employer of Nigeria and roughly 70 per cent of the population is working within the sector and that this means close to 150 million people of Nigeria’s total population of about 213 million is employed by the agriculture sector.

He noted that agriculture suffers from entrenched negative perceptions among Nigerians’ youth, saying “in the minds of many young Nigerians, farming is poor man’s work that involved backbreaking labour and insufficient financial gain. The government of The Netherlands believes this perspective should change”. He said that The Netherlands was partnering with a large group of stakeholders to create viable agribusiness enterprises using innovative, climate-smart technologies, thereby fostering sustainable development and creating an environment where young farmers and entrepreneurs can thrive and that “Although agriculture is derived from the two root words field and cultivation, time has shown that it is more than just planting and harvesting. Agriculture, is a way of life, it is commerce, it is a lifeline and it is community”.

Speaking further, he said that The Netherlands, though a small nation, had a long and proud history in agriculture. He said as partners and through a joint vision, The Netherlands and Nigeria recognise that the agriculture sector was one of the most prominent drivers for economic growth in the country. He noted that The Netherlands had demonstrated innovation and productivity in its agricultural landscape, successfully competing in global markets and shaping its economy. “This serves as a driving force in fostering and enhancing our ties with Nigeria, recognising the potential of the agricultural sector as the backbone of its economy.