UNESCO calls for productive engagement of youths in agriculture

UNESCO on Wednesday called for the productive engagement of youths in agriculture to create employment and ensure food security in Nigeria.

Dr Jean-Paul Abiaga, Head of Office/Representative, UNESCO Office Abuja, made the call during the inauguration of the National Occupational Standards (NOS) workshop under the Better Education for Africa’s Rise (BEAR III) Project in Abuja.

The workshop, organised by UNESCO from Feb. 25 to 27, focused on the review and validation of the NOS to strengthen the education and skills development sector in Nigeria.

Abiaga said, “This initiative has one simple goal: to make education practical, relevant, and directly connected to the real jobs here in Nigeria. We are focusing on food processing and post-harvest management.

“This is not about a training workshop only; it is about putting food on the table, reducing waste, creating jobs, and giving young people real chance to build a future with dignity.

“Technical and vocational education is essential to Nigeria’s development: Nigeria, with not less than 60 per cent of its citizens under 25 years of age, has the largest youth population globally.

“Although every year millions of young men and women step into adulthood full of energy, ideas, and hope, hope must meet opportunity. When young people do not have practical skills, frustrations grow.

“When they do have skills, they create businesses, strengthen communities, and move the country forward. Skills change lives, and when lives change, nations rise.”

He decried the loss of a large share of harvested food before it reached the market, saying that when young people are trained to handle, store, and process food properly, harvests can be saved and incomes increased.

He added that by such training, food security efforts will be strengthened and employment opportunities created.

For his part, Prof. Idris Bugaje, Executive-Secretary, National Board for Technical Education (NBTE), Kaduna, described Agriculture as one of the important sectors in Nigeria that can contribute to economic development.

Bugaje, represented by Dr Oladipupo Bello, Director of Curriculum Development, NBTE, said after oil and gas, agriculture should become a priority, saying it is not something to play with or as a nation.

“We are so happy that you have chosen to support us in training our youth, so that we can give them more skills.

“Apart from the indigenous way we used to do it, there are other better ways they can do it.

“They can get it in a more formalised way, and that will make them more professional, more efficient,t and prepare them for the future.

“This is an opportunity to network, so let us use the opportunity. It is an opportunity to learn from one another,” Bugaje said.

Meanwhile, Mr Onallo Akpa, Chairman, Sector Skills Council for Agriculture (SSC4A), commended UNESCO for putting the workshop together.

Akpa, represented by Newton Ovie, Executive-Secretary of SSC4A, assured that the sector will help to bridge gaps between industry needs and workforce training.

Also promote renewable energy for farming, reduce post-harvest losses, and foster youth entrepreneurship in agriculture.

“What we have discovered is that quite a lot of work has been done in this little time on developing NOS for various subsets of agriculture.

“We appreciate what has been done, and we have engaged quite a lot of stakeholders on the way forward.

“It is one thing for us to develop these NOS, and let’s not have it on the shelf. It has to be useful,” Akpa said.