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Chevron Nigeria Limited, (CNL), operator of the joint venture (JV)
between the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and CNL (the “NNPC/CNL JV”), launched a
youth-in-agriculture (agripreneur) program, aimed at providing training
opportunities for young men and women to venture into agribusiness.
CNL
launched the agripreneur program in collaboration with the Itsekiri Regional
Development Committee (IRDC), the Egbema and Gbaramatu Central Development
Foundation (EGCDF), the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) and
Partnership Initiatives in the Niger Delta (PIND).
The pilot program
which is targeted at forty youths from the Itsekiri and Ijaw communities in
areas where the NNPC/CNL JV operates in Delta State was flagged off in a
ceremony at PIND’s Economic Development Centre at Egbokodo, Warri. The event was
attended by various stakeholders including representatives of the Delta State Government,
the IRDC and the EGCDC (the bodies representing the Itsekiri and the Ijaw
communities in the NNPC/CNL JV Global Memorandum of Understanding (GMoU)
process), IITA, PIND, CNL and the National Petroleum Investment Management
Services (NAPIMS), an arm of NNPC.
Mr. Deji
Haastrup, CNL’s General Manager, Policy, Government and Public Affairs, stated
that the objectives of the agripreneur pilot program, which will gulp over N188
million, include empowering youths to embrace agriculture and agribusiness as
income generating activities and training them on aquaculture, cassava,
plantain/banana production and processing. In addition, the pilot program will
assist the Community Youths in Agribusiness Group (CYAG) to enhance the
sustainability of the program.
Mr. Haastrup
stated that from the inception of the GMoU in 2005 to 2015, the NNPC/CNL JV has
contributed about N16.7 billion to the eight Regional Development Committees (RDCs)
- including EGCDF and IRDC - through the GMoU process. Mr. Haastrup emphasized
that following the successes
recorded in infrastructural development in the communities, the GMoU+ was
introduced as a
new direction of the community development concept which focuses on business
development, income generation and economic empowerment as well as third party
partnership and collaboration that align with the Sustainable Development
Goals. This project is in line with the GMoU+ and the Economic Growth
Opportunities/Sustainable Livelihood Assessment studies opportunities
identified.
The Group General Manager, NAPIMS, Mr. Dafe Stephen
Sejebor, represented by Mrs. Clementina Arubi, Deputy Manager, Community
Development expressed delight at the agripreneur program and stated that the
program will help encourage the youths to pursue other economic activities
outside crude oil in the light of the challenging economic situation in the
country.
The Delta State Commissioner for Agriculture and
Natural Resources, Mr. Austin Chikezie represented by the Permanent Secretary
in the Ministry, Mr. Ede Oghoro, applauded the efforts to embrace agriculture
as an income generation activity.
Mr.
Oghoro said that the agripreneur program accords with the State government’s Agenda of Strategic
wealth creation projects and provision of jobs for all Deltans; Meaningful
peace building platforms aimed at political and social harmony; Agricultural
reforms and accelerated industrialization; Relevant Health and Education
policies and Transformed environment through urban renewal (SMART), and pledged that
trained youths from the program would be integrated into the state’s
agricultural reform agenda, thereby amplifying the benefits of the youth
initiative.
Top representatives
of EGCDF and the IRDC also commended the
NNPC/CNL JV
for
initiating the program and promised to support and actively participate in it.
The Deputy
Director General, Partnerships and Capacity Development, IITA, Dr. Kenton
Dashiell, described the initiative as an opportunity that would create wealth
and jobs for young men and women in the communities where the NNPC/CNL JV
operates. Also Dr. Alfred Dixon, IITA Head of Partnerships Coordination, said
the approach of mentoring the youth and working together with them in the communities
are other unique features of the program. “We will see ‘peer influence’ at work
here in the oncoming days.
Youths want to listen to youths, and we are
confident that the trained youths in IITA will transfer knowledge, innovations
and skills to their counterparts in these communities,” Dr. Dixon explained.
Conceived and
developed based on the IITA Youth Agripreneurs (IYA) model, the agripreneur
program will provide mentorship and hands-on training to youths in the Niger Delta
region, and will help them develop agribusiness enterprises along the cassava,
plantain and aquaculture value chains. The two- year program builds on past
successful agricultural interventions such as those implemented by PIND and
other development partners.
Evelyn Ohanwusi,
Team Leader of IYA, called on youths in the region to key into the program. Ms
Ohanwusi and her team are bringing to the program, their personal experiences
as “agripreneurs”, and are willing to share their experiences and expertise
with the young men and women in the Niger Delta. “When we started a few years ago as
agripreneurs in IITA, most of us never viewed agriculture as a ‘goldmine’, but
today, we are proud to be called farmers. What happened to us and convinced us
to take agriculture as a profession is what we want to transfer to the youths
in the communities that we will be working in under this program. Agriculture
is good, it is sweet… and we want you to join us as we make our communities
better and create jobs, not only for ourselves, but also for other youths in
this region,” Ms Ohanwusi said.
According to Dr.
Dashiell, the youth program, otherwise known as “Chevron Agripreneurs”, will be
primarily implemented by IYA with technical assistance from IITA experts.
For more information,
contact:
Evelyn Ohanwusi, e.ohanwusi@cgiar.org
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