By Noah Ocheni, Lokoja
The Resillience Programme Coordinator with ActionAid, Team Lead of the SARVE 11 Project, Mr. Anicetus Atakpu, has called for the implementation of policies that would encourage Youths engagement in Agriculture.
Atakpu made the call at the 2021 Youth Summit on Preventing Violent Extremism in Kogi State, with the theme: Youth Innovation in Peace Building Through Climate Change Mitigation.
According to him, the Summit was in commemoration with the 2021 International Youth Day (IYD) stressing that youths encouragement in agriculture could be achieved through increased budgetary allocation and creating an enabling environment for the sector to thrive.
He said ActionAid Nigeria in partnership with Participation Initiative for Behavioural Change in Development (PIBCID), held the Youth Summit under the “System and Structure Strengthening Approach against Radicalisation to Violent Extremism (SARVE II) with funding from the Global Community Engagement and Resilience Fund, (GCERF).
Mr. Anicetus who described unemployment as a critical factor that aggravates violent extremism, pointed out that Government’s proactive measure in creating and implementing policies that would encourage young people’s engagement in agricultural practices remains the Panacea to reducing the unemployment gap in the country.
The Programme Coordinator
described Agriculture as the Nation’s economic mainstay adding that the sector has the capacity to reduce unemployment, poverty and preventing Violent extremism if well harnessed.
He called for the creation of an enabling environment for Agriculture to thrive so as to close the unemployment gap and curbing social vices in the prevention of violent extremism in the country.
In his remarks, the Council Chairman of Kogi Local Government, Hon. Isah Abdulkareem, described Youth engagement in Agriculture as cardinal adding that his administration has not only created farms for youths, but has equally assisted them with four tractors to encourage their participation.
Similarly, the Chairman, National Youth Council, Kogi Local Government Chapter, Comr. Isah Abubakar Adah Abu, lauded the Initiatives of Actionaid Nigeria, expressed optimism that the agricultural sector has the propensity to check unemployment and Youth restiveness.
Earlier, the Resource Person at the Summit, Hajia Zainab Musa, described Kogi LGA as an agrarian area in nature and urged the youths to embrace farming escape unemployment crisis bedeviling the country.
