SPEECH BY Ms. LOUISE SETSHWAELO FAO REPRESENTATIVE IN NIGERIA AT THE MULTI-STAKEHOLDER MEETING ON STRENGHTENING CAPACITY ON THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE YOUTHS EMPLOYMENT IN AGRICULTURE PROGRAMME YEAP.

FAO

On behalf of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, an on my own behalf, it is an honor and privileged, to warmly welcome you all, to this important stakeholders meeting, on the implementation of the YEAP. A special welcome to all our colleagues from outside Abuja.

Ladies and Gentlemen; Young people are about to inherit an enormous responsibility, for resolving many long-standing complex problems, like food insecurity, poverty, unemployment, climate change, and others. Yet they have mostly been excluded from participating in the decisions that will determine what the future looks like. 

Without appropriate polices and investments today in youth, to prepare them for the future, these complex problems and the challenges, of meeting the needs of a growing population will become increasingly daunting with time. As also mentioned in the Nigerian youth policy, youth are one of the greatest assets that any nation can have.

Not only are they legitimately regarded as the future leaders, but they are potentially and, and actually, the greatest investment for country’s development. Young women and men are in particular, recognized as vital recourses, whose future prospects, and are inextricable tied to that of their country. 

They are valued possession of any nation region, and the centre of reconstruction and development. Without them, there can be no future. As you all know, Nigeria population is predominately young, the median age is 18. With a population of over 180million, a profound change of the national food and agriculture systems is needed, if the country is to nourish the increasing number of its people.

Agriculture is a crucial to food and nutrition security but the sector is rapidly aging. The sector needs rejuvenation. We know that about 1.8million Nigerians enter job market every year, this is an en0ormous productive potential for the country. At the same time the issue of growing youth unemployment, is becoming ever more pressing.

Statistics further show that more than 37 percent of the youths in Nigeria are already engaged in agriculture, with over 50% of those 15-24 years of age, participating in various income generating activities within the sector.This underutilized power of the youth could provide the impetus needed to move developments in the sector considerably forward. 

In order to harness this potential, we must make the right investments in their skills to provide them with relevant tools, to create their own jobs and provide decent employment to others. We must also provide opportunities for apprenticeship and mentoring, and ensure that both young women and men have equal access to decent jobs. 

To address issues of youth undevelopment, underdevelopment and working poverty, the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and the FAO joined forces in 2012, to design and implement the national Youth Employment in Agriculture Programme (YEAP). The YEAP recognizes the important contribution that youths are making in this country. It recognizes the challenges they face, in becoming full and productive members of society. YEAP provides a framework for supporting targeted State-Level investments, to complement and leverage on-going programmes for youth employment in agriculture.

Ladies and Gentlemen; it is therefore a privilege for us in FAO to work with government in supporting the implementation of YEAP. I would also like to take this opportunity to thank the ILO officer in Nigeria, for collaborating with us to support and strengthen institutional capacity, both at federal and state levels, for the implementation of the programme.

In particular, during 2015 ILO support training of our colleagues in FMARD last in Italy; we believe this training will help to strengthen the implementation in the country. FAO has provided close to USD500, 000 as seed funding, for the YEAP capacity strengthening. We hope that these funds will leverage support from other partners, a s well as government itself, to facilitate more concrete actions in the field.

The multi-stakeholders meeting is not simply to share the initial progress of YEAP, but also to dialogue with the different partners on the future steps of the programme. I would like therefore to conclude by reiterating the FAO’s commitment to continue collaborating with the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development in the implementation of the YEAP to advance the empowerment of youths.