IFAD Agrihub Nigeria

IFAD-Agrihub kicks off the training for the 1st cohort in Northern-Nigeria

Africa Project Development Centre (APDC) one of the implementing partners of the Rural Youth Employment Opportunities: Support to integrated agribusiness hubs in Nigeria “IFAD-Agrihub Project’’, has kicked off the training of the 1st cohort of beneficiaries of the project on Monday, May 10, 2021.

The project funded by International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) is an innovate program to empower African youth through the establishment of a network of youth-centered Agribusiness Hubs in Nigeria.

These Hubs are intended to be transformational and integrate agricultural production and processing at two levels; through imparting skill sets among employment track youth, and another to equip and backstop young entrepreneurs.

 Furthermore, the Integrated Agribusiness Hubs will offer more than capacity-building, training, and mentoring services.  The hub trainees will pilot their enterprises in the hub using refined and modernized agricultural technologies.

The trainees will be in the hub for ten weeks and will gain hands-on practical and theoretical knowledge by the day-to-day activities within the hub, the agricultural value chains of engagement within the Abuja hub include soilless vegetable production, mushroom production and value-addition, poultry, and aquaculture.

“The Centre is youth run, as we see peer to peer training as a way to motivate and convince youths that if their mates are doing it, they too can do it.    For the agribusiness sector, APDC provides training in the following proven commodity value chains -horticulture through a screenhouse and soilless hydroponics; poultry both layers and broilers; aquaculture mainly catfish production, processing and packaging.   Others   are   mushrooms   production   and   heliculture/snailery.   The outputs are easily marketable around here.”

The launching of the training program in Abuja had representatives from the public and private sectors.

After completing the ten-week training, participants can take advantage of the project’s partnerships with selected and reputable financial institutions to secure credit facilities to start independent agribusiness enterprises.