Osun to train 996 youths in food production

The Government of Osun on Thursday formally launched the second edition of the Osun Rural Enterprise and Agriculture Programme Youth Academy.
The initiative academy is an empowerment programme of the government, which would train 996 youths in the state on agricultural food production.
Launching the academy at the state secretariat in Osogbo, Governor Rauf Aregesola said the academy would train and empower youths in food production.
According to Aregbesola, the training had started in July and would run for six months.
He added that the participants, drawn from all the 332 wards in the state, would be trained in the areas of crop, livestock and fish farming.
According to Aregbesola, the O-REAP Academy programme is a platform created to empower youths in order to eradicate unemployment, through encouraging youth participant in agriculture and food production.
He said his administration had given out over N1 billion to agricultural societies and cooperatives, in order to complement their efforts and boost food production in the state.
He said: “We are aiming at taking agriculture to a high commercial level and working towards ensuring abundant food production in the state and the country.
“The involvement of youths in food production will help convince them that agriculture is not only practised by the aged.
“It will help open their eyes to the opportunities and prospects agriculture provides.”
He noted that the “World Development statistics” showed that 40 per cent of the world’s population were youths.
“In this regard, it is pertinent for the government to tap into their strength and agility in agricultural production,” he said.
In his address, Hon. Adewale Adedoyin, the state Commissioner for Agriculture and Food Security, lauded the efforts of the state government.
Adedoyin stated that the government conceived the programme out of the need to empower youths in a sustainable career such as agriculture.
Adedoyin said 610 participants were trained during the maiden edition of the programme last year and that 996 were participating in this year’s edition.
He said that 40 youths from the O-REAP academy, including those from O-YES cadets and the public, would be given further training in agriculture.
He said they would be sent to Germany for advanced practical training in agriculture this year and that they would go in two batches.