Can Government Make Agriculture Attractive to Youths

The rate of youth unemployment in Nigeria is quite alarming and millions of young people are facing a daunting challenge to overcome these perilous circumstances. More than one third of the youth population is unemployed. For young people, finding stable and gainful employment has become a priority at the expense of creation of self sustainable livelihoods. The government’s lackluster attitude towards Agricultural development has forced many of us to shift our attention away from farming. In the early 90s Agriculture was the most vibrant sector of the Nigerian economy– engaging about 70% of the labour force while producing about 80% of the total food consumption. Today only a fraction of the youth is actively engaged in farming as a result of its unattractive nature. Young school leavers have often been cajoled to return to the farms, but the lack of a cohesive structure in place in recent times has raised questions about the Government’s sincerity. Over reliance on crude oil has also served to divert attention from other sources of revenue by the government. This has continually undermined the significant potential of Agriculture to provide solutions to Nigeria’s current unemployment rates. Lack of sound policies to restrict importation of certain products has led to the dearth in food production. Government needs to map out strong policies to empower farmers and come up with a program that looks at absorbing the youth into Agricultural graduate-training programs fully funded by government, to stem the rising tide of youths seeking white collar jobs. This ‘academy-like’ scheme would help government channel its funds to other sectors of the economy in order to actualize its vision 2015 food sufficiency goal. The Minister of Agriculture Dr Akinwunmi Adesina under the Agricultural Transformation Agenda (ATAP) promised to take decisive steps towards banning importation of some major food items. Notable on the list is Rice which experts say gulps an estimated N365 Billion annually, in importation numbers. The Ondo state government has also taken proactive steps by providing commercial Agric credit schemes as loans to farmers. Kwara indigenes can also afford a smile if the former governor of the state Senator Bukola Saraki delivers on his promise to set up a revolving loan scheme for youths. Considering the overwhelming population of the unemployed, more of such gestures are highly anticipated from the government and private sectors alike if Nigeria is to cut down on its dependence on the ‘black gold’. In the past, successive governments have paid lip service to Agriculture which accounts for our backwardness in food production. We really do not produce enough food to meet local demand. Again, few incentives are provided to farmers to grow crops locally especially since there is the erroneous impression that goes: “imported foods are cheaper and more palatable”. The result is decreased output as farmers are forced to reduce prices; a move which further impinges on growth rates. Government can make Agriculture attractive to young people by awarding scholarships to students who major in Agriculture in our Tertiary institutions by fashioning out programs where selected students are made to engage in extensive training and research– which they can channel towards developing innovative solutions to the agricultural problems facing farmers in local communities. Once this is done, the villagers can now employ these innovations to increase their crop yield. Small scale farming as a first step could be the key towards making farming more attractive for young and trendy Nigerians. Young Nigerians may not just wake up to fall in love with ‘good old farming’ all of a sudden, until the Government fashions out a workable structure to bring them in; including extension services, better pricing, good farming conditions, better transportation systems and mechanized farming. Imagine an Agricultural program where one million youths can access about 10million hectares of land in say the next 10years with the fulfillment of the above conditions? If only our leaders were able to look inwards, preen themselves of corruption and take Agriculture back to its green lofty days! Wishful thinking? Nah! Blame the optimist genes flowing in my system…… Agricultural values, apart from creating employment for more young people, could well prove the key towards ameliorating some of the social problems (including suicide bombings) the Nigerian polity is presently grappling with. follow the writer on twitter @waleflame for more interactions.