Oyo State Agribusiness Agency Onboards Beneficiaries for Enterprise Support
Olubunmi Osoteku, Ibadan
The Oyo State Agribusiness Development Agency (OYSADA) has onboarded 100 beneficiaries of the Youth Entrepreneurship in Agribusiness Project (YEAP) in the crop production enterprise.
In a statement, the Commissioner for Information, Culture and Tourism, Wasiu Olatubosun, indicated that the youths were part of the 3,300 beneficiaries who received training at CSS Farms, Nasarawa State, in 2021, disclosing that the onboarding and orientation marked the beginning of the project’s second phase for the beneficiaries.
Olatubosun noted, in the statement, that the Director-General of OYSADA, Debo Akande, had hinted that each of the 100 beneficiaries would get land allocations for crop production at the Fasola Agribusiness Industrial Hub, located in the Oyo West Local Government Area.
The statement reveals that as part of their orientation, the youths were taken to the allocated land, where land preparation is ongoing, noting that the youths would get inputs as needed, as they embark on land cultivation and crop production and also get technical and agricultural extension support from OYSADA.
Akande used the opportunity to urge other YEAP beneficiaries to be patient with the Oyo State Government as the authorities were working assiduously to ensure that more beneficiaries get the needed support, noting that about 120 beneficiaries had earlier received enterprise support from the Oyo State Government and more would be empowered as funds are available.
The Director General also emphasised that the approach of offering practical training to the youths, adopted by the Oyo State Government, is superior to simply giving handouts and funds to individuals, an action he said would not contribute anything to the economy’s growth.
He thanked the youths who were already using the knowledge they acquired during the training to improve their existing businesses and urged others who were not already doing so to emulate those who had started.
Also at the event were representatives of the Nigeria COVID-19 Action Recovery and Economic Stimulus (NCARES).
As part of the support to YEAP beneficiaries, the Oyo Arm of NCARES tagged: Oyo-CARES, would be profiling YEAP beneficiaries who already have agribusinesses for further support.
