ARMTI concludes agripreneurship training for new generation farmers

The Agricultural and Rural Management Training Institute (ARMTI) has just concluded a 5-day training for selected youths from around the country on the basics of Agripreneurship.

Speaking at the opening ceremony, the Executive Director, Dr Olufemi Oladunni, said ARMTI has taken it upon itself to embark on an aggressive mission to churn out a mass of youths with the requisite skills and empowerment to unlock the huge potentials in Agribusiness to create wealth, jobs and alleviate poverty as well as tackle restiveness in youths.

He reiterated that if well practised by adequately trained practitioners, agriculture has the capacity to solve the vices of criminality, fraud and delinquency among our youth while solving the unemployment problem in the nation.

“Skills such as records keeping, resource and cost management, Farm Planning and project management as well as imbibe modern trends in practice, marketing and processing of agriculture are some of the missing links that have led to low yield, huge post-harvest losses and the general apathy towards agriculture in the country,” he said.

The course coordinator, Dr Abdulrazaq Yahaya, explained that the programme is one of a string of tuition-free training programmes rolled out by the institute this year and which was advertised earlier in the year to call for applicants.

He explained that over ten thousand youths from all over the nation responded to the advertisement and applied through a link on the Institute’s website.

“It is from these online applications that participants are screened and selected for each of the programmes, based on their details and expression of interest as submitted in their applications,” he said.

Yahaya further said the courses are designed to strategically address the teeming gaps in the agricultural sector and to address the spaces in the Agribusiness value chain in the country so that a paradigm shift can begin, especially now that the country is battling with the economic downturn and the lingering pandemic as well as insecurity.

The training covered in-depth practical exposition to the intricacies of effective farm practices and strategies as well as practical case studies and brainstorming exercises.

The participants, numbering 50 in all, were also taking on field study visits to witness the practice of what they had been exposed to in class.

“This programme is an eye-opener for me, I have been equipped with business sense and I’m yearning to go into my community to begin to solve cogent needs with agricultural solutions,” one of the trainees, Emenike Benedicta said.

“An informative and educative programme. Even tho I’m a graduate of agriculture, the impact of this programme is beyond all I got in 5 years of learning agriculture. The secrets of agriculture have been unlocked to me. I’m starting an aquaculture business next week”, another trainee Oyindamola Ajiboye said.

Also, Ayodele Kehinde who is also a beneficiary of the training said “I studied agriculture but I didn’t want it and didn’t develop passion for it. But I have been empowered so much. The practical focus is so in-depth that I’m set to go and begin my own venture.”

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ARMTI concludes agripreneurship training for new generation farmers

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