THE first edition of the National Youth Agric Festival is set to hold in Abuja on March 16, 2015. Endorsed by Federal Ministry of Agriculture, the agricultural festival is organised by the Youth Farm (YFarm) Project in partnership with Oxfam and Trust Africa.
Youth Farm (YFarm) Project is an initiative of Fresh & Young Brains Development Initiative and Alexijan Consults, whose mandate is aimed at contributing to the Agricultural Transformation Agenda and further the fight against poverty and transform the mind-set of Nigerian youths.
The 1st African Youth Agric Festival held in Kenya, 2014 enabled the organisation jump-start the YFarm Project and the YFarm Females in Agribusiness Initiative under it, which equipped 20 young women with technical expertise in their various Agric enterprises.
The project comes under the Agribusiness and Transformative Leadership Training of the African Union Commission, UNDP and UNWomen/ACTIL in Kenya.
Nkiruka Nnaemego, Chief Executive of the Fresh & Young Brains Development Initiative, explained the purpose and drive behind the festival. She said, “We are hopeful that this project will enable us continue to contribute to the Agricultural Transformation Agenda and further the fight against poverty and transform the mind-set of Nigerian youth and indeed Africans to embrace agriculture as a source of livelihood.”
She added the project aims to promote about 10,000 youth-led farms and agribusinesses across Africa by 2020 as well as highlight the benefits of youth farming as tool for sustainable livelihood.
Since its inception in April 2014, the YFarm Project has partnered with key actors in the agricultural sector and has made some achievements in less than a year. They include Participation in the RUFIN Programme of Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development in June 2014; 1st African Youth Agric Festival hosted in Nigeria at the National Agric Show Ground, Nasarawa in August 12, 2014 and Training on Value Addition Agriculture for Youths, organised by Federal Ministry of Youth Development, UNDP and Commonwealth in Abuja on July 21st, 2014.
