Using Agro-Entrepreneurship Skills Acquisition As Tool To Address Food Shortage, Unemployment

As Nigeria not only struggles with unemployment, but the possibility of shortage of food this year 2023, due to insecurity and rising costs, it is a welcome idea that youths are benefitting from Agro-Entrepreneurship Skills training to eliminate both challenges. When you acquire a skill, it stays with you and can do more than put food on the table, if carried out diligently. And with the training focusing on the Agro sector, this will support food production in the country.

It is on this note that management of Total Energies and it’s senior partners, the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Ltd, together with South Atlantic Petroleum, China National Offshore Oil Corporation and PRIME130 Nigeria Ltd, have trained 20 youths residing in Cross River State, to acquire skill agro- entrepreneurship skills.

The training bothered on post harvest management of agricultural produce from primary production to processing and marketing, to help beneficiaries become self reliant, financially independent and also aligns with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals on poverty, zero hunger and decent work and economic growth.

At the graduation of the trainees, the country chair, Total Energies Upstream Nigeria Limited, Mr. Mike Sangster, represented by Lolade Temitope Ogungbe, the CSR Officer, disclosed that the training is aimed at helping trainees add value to the agricultural sector. The beneficiaries were empowered with starter packs to work towards; processing, packaging and distribution of farm produce, in order to reduce losses and wastage caused by the paucity of reliable means of preservation.

“Today’s graduating beneficiaries have acquired the knowledge necessary to properly package their goods , marketing, book keeping, maintaining stock records and fund administration,” he said.

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In his remarks, the Chief Upstream Investment Officer of the NNPC Upstream Management Services (NUIMS),  Bala Wunti, lauded all the partners for making the training programme a huge success. Wunti who spoke through the Community Relations Officer NUIMS, Anthony Francis, charged  beneficiaries of the programme not to toy with the opportunity but to take advantage of the training to make themselves self reliant.

A beneficiary of the Programme, Miss Precious Eta, said that the experience gained is capable of transforming one from poverty to at least an average businessperson who can breakeven to become an employer of labour, adding that the training will aid beneficiaries in expanding their businesses, as well as employ Information and Communications Technology (ICT) knowledge in agro businesses to turnaround their fortunes.

Another beneficiary, Mr. Sunday Edem while thankful, noted that the knowledge gained would be used for expansion of  the numerous agro  businesses which he is already engaged in. 

In his remarks Mr. Samson Ekpeyong, said he was happy that his son who used to roam the streets of Calabar in the past, now has something to do due to the training given to him.