Revamping agriculture through skills development

• Published date: 16 January 2023
• Publication title: Nigeria - The Nation

For former Country Manager, HarvestPlus-Nigeria, Dr Paul Ilona, a vibrant commercial agricultural sector would give rise to better livelihood opportunities and spark rural economic transformation.

This, however, he noted, depends on revamping the curriculum of the agricultural educational curriculum to a functional one that focuses on the potential of agricultural commercialisation to transform the economy.

According to him, a value chain approach to agricultural education would center on promoting employment opportunities for graduates, in agro-processing and service sectors.

He underlined the importance of significant reforms in agricultural education and training centered on increasing farm-level productivity. Certain limitations, he explained, persisted within the agricultural value chain from input, production, post-harvest processing.

He recommended applying modern science and technology innovations to the agricultural education for the benefit of farmers.

He considered the lack of modern technology to be a major constraint in the national agricultural product value chain, resulting in high input costs and inefficient production.

According to him, the challenge of Nigeria's agriculture is not merely to nurture those who will inherit the techniques of agricultural production but rather to nurture agri-entrepreneurs.

He found support in the Group Managing Director, Niji Group Kola Adeniji, who has been canvassing the need for a vibrant economy driven by agriculture.

He explained that many agriculture graduates from universities were not as productive as expected.

To develop capacities of those who intend to engage in agriculture, Adeniji reiterated that universities and other higher education institutions play a major role.

In line with this and in a complimentary capacity, Adeniji runs a hands-on agricultural training for agric and non-graduates where they experience a variety of work on the farm throughout the year.

According to him, an agricultural economy, stimulated by improved policies and better-targeted investment, could lift the economy as a whole out of its current low-growth equilibrium. While everyone sees agriculture as very important industry, Adeniji indicated that few people really appreciate the situation of the sector.

To this end, he stressed the importance of developing human resources to advance domestic food production.

According to him, producing university graduates with degrees and skills that have limited practical use is a waste of time...