Food security: ECOWAS, ARMTI train 150 youths on fish, vegetable farming

The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), in collaboration with the Agricultural and Rural Management Training Institute (ARMTI), Ilorin, and Kwara, have organised a one-week intensive training programme on fish and vegetable farming for 150 youth below 35 years of age.

Speaking at the opening ceremony of the programme held in the institute’s headquarters, Ilorin, on Monday, the ARMTI executive director, Dr Olufemi Oladunni, said that the training programme aimed to empower the beneficiaries drawn from six geopolitical zones of the country to be financially independent and make them employers of labour.

The ARMTI boss, who also said that the training programme would help take care of the nation’s food and nutritional security, added that large production of fish and vegetables would improve nutrition among people.

He also expressed optimism that the beneficiaries would make a life out of the enterprise with a resultant financial breakthrough, saying that almost every home in the country consumes a variety of vegetables and fish every day.

Also speaking, the technical assistant to the executive director, Kingsley Olurinde, said that the participants would be empowered after the training programme to ensure easy takeoff.

“The project is a collaborative one between ECOWAS and ARMTI, and the major objective is to create jobs for the unemployed youths.

“This workshop is taking care of 150 participants as the ECOWAS has provided funds while ARMTI is contributing every other dimension to make sure that the beneficiaries are empowered, adequately skilled in fish production, and integrated with market gardening. We hope that at the end of the workshop, they will not be job seekers again, but employers of labour.

“ECOWAS has also provided funds to empower them to some extent to ease their takeover. After their opening, we hope to support them more and move forward to become big stakeholders in the fish and vegetable industry.”

The institute also explained the reason behind the choice of vegetable and fish farming, saying that as one thinks along the economic dimension of empowering the youth to become employers of labour, one should also think about nutrition security.

“The food and nutrition security of the nation is essential. It’s like using a stone to kill two birds. So, we will be creating jobs for the youth, and we want them to help solve an existing problem, which is food and nutrition security in the nation.

“So, imagine 150 people producing fish and vegetables and turning the output into the nation’s markets; that’s a whole lot, and food security is being guaranteed,” he said.

While responding on behalf of his colleagues, the class governor of the participants, Olayiwola Damilola, appreciated the organisers, hoping to make use of the opportunity to improve themselves.

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