Stakeholders in the agriculture sector have appealed to the management of the College of Agriculture in Nigeria to offer scholarships to smallholder farmers in rural areas to enable them to attend the college’s training programmes. This is in response to the need for education and skills development in the agriculture sector, with the aim of improving the productivity of farmers and contributing to Nigeria’s progress towards food security. The call came at the launch of the College’s range of farmers-focused training programmes in the state of Oyo. The courses offered by the college have been divided into four thematic areas, such as farm management, agricultural business development, nutrition and development leadership, food business innovation, etc.
The launch of a series of farmers-focused training programmes by the College of Agriculture, Ibadan in Oyo State, has been met with strong support from agricultural stakeholders. The courses were designed to equip farmers with the necessary skills and industry specific qualifications to thrive in today’s ever-evolving agricultural landscape. The Director of Administration of the AFAN (All-Farmers Association of Nigeria) (Agbaju), the Executive Director (Green Shift Africa) Dr. Steve Arrowolo, and the Programme Manager of the College, Precious Ezinwa, stressed the importance of education and skills development in the agriculture sector. They said that the training programmes will help to improve the productivity of smallholder farmers and contribute to Nigeria’s goal of achieving sui generis food security. The courses offered by the college were divided into four thematic areas, such as farm management (agribusiness), nutrition (development leadership), food business innovation (food business), and The courses were designed to provide farmers and agribusiness professionals essential skills and industry-specific qualifications needed to succeed in today’s ever-changing agricultural landscape.
