Fifty selected serving members of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) in Kwara State have been trained on value addition and post harvest management of agricultural commodities.

The corps members, who are graduates of various academic disciplines, participated in the training conducted by Synergy Impact Limited on value addition to such agricultural commodities as fish, roots and tubers, grains, fruits and vegetables, as well as packaging.

Speaking at the closing ceremony of the five-day training programme organised by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and the Nigerian Stored Products Research Institute (NSPRI) in Ilorin, the Executive Director of the institute, Professor Lateef Sanni, said the objective of the programme was to encourage self-reliance, self-employment and ensure productivity for the youth.

The NSPRI boss, who said that agriculture is no longer an art, but rather a business enterprise that blossoms everyday due to recent happenings, added that value addition to agricultural products is a viable and trendy aspect of agribusiness that creates job opportunities, increases farmers' income, ensures abundance of food and reduces loss.

“Nigeria is expected to be the world's third most populous country by 2050, with over 300 million people, according to the United Nations. The present development demands youth engagement in agribusiness as it is being practised in some developing countries as a crucial asset to achieving sustainable food security.

“Recognising this, the Nigerian Stored Products Research Institute (NSPRI) becomes a dependable partner for the youth corps members to boost their skills and improve networks for the next generation of Nigeria's agricultural entrepreneurs by harnessing the potentials in the postharvest value chain of agriculture,” he said.

Professor Sanni, who said that any of the trainees who submits a promising proposal at the end of the service year will get N2 million, added that the institute had supported three corps members with the sum of N2 million each as startup seed money following verification of their business proposals after their service year from Kwara and Oyo States' editions.

The Executive Director of the NSPRI also said that the training had been held in states such as Kwara, Oyo, Delta, Rivers, Lagos and brought back to Kwara State, adding that it was the ninth in the series of capacity building of corps members on value addition and postharvest management of agricultural crops by the institute.

“NSPRI is the only research institute saddled with the sole mandate to research into post-harvest management of agricultural crops produced and consumed in the country to reduce post-harvest losses, maintain the quality and ensure food safety and security.

“NSPRI, with over 60 years of postharvest research delivery, has developed various technologies and appropriate techniques for handling, processing and storage of different categories of agricultural commodities suitable for the Nigerian market and export,” he said.

The institute appreciated the State Coordinator of NYSC, Mr Olu Onifade, for buying into the programme and for the release of corps members to participate in the training.

Onifade said that era of white collar job should be jettisoned, adding that this is the era of skill-induced economy.

He said that the agency holds the issue of youth development in high esteem and urged the corps members to build confidence in their ability.

Also speaking, Director, Agric Services, Kwara State Ministry of Agriculture, Alhaji Hassan Mohammed, charged the corps members to think big and start small.

He encouraged them to turn themselves into smallholder entrepreneurs towards exporting their products to African states, especially with the implementation of Africa's Continental Free Trade Agreements.