Agriculture
MISS Agriculture Nigeria, Miss Eucharia Odida, has called on Nigerian youths to shun illegal migration to Europe through the Mediterranean Sea.
Odida who gave this advice in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Monday in Calabar, said agriculture has the potentials of generating wealth if properly harnessed.
She said Nigeria youths should stop taking the risky journey of travelling to Europe and other foreign countries in search of greener pastures, urging them to remain in the country and invest in agriculture.
She said the migrant crisis in Europe can be diminished if agricultural transformation is massively supported by the government and embraced by the youths.
Odida, a graduate of the University of Calabar, said the value chain of agriculture was large enough to accommodate all youths irrespective of their fields of study.
She explained that agriculture should be ‘youth centered’, hence the need for more youths to see agriculture as a priority alternative to wealth generation.
She told NAN she had embarked on sensitisation tours across secondary schools in the state with a view to catch them young and shape their thoughts on the perspective of agriculture.
Odida said the Federal Government had made farming easy through the provision of loans/grants to improve production on varieties of agricultural value chain.
“I want to call on Nigerian youths to shun the risky journey to Europe through the Mediterranean Sea, but rather, they should invest their little savings into agriculture and earn a living.
“The migration is rising rapidly as youths continue to jump into the boat to Europe, whereas, the agricultural sector has the capacity to create jobs than any other sector in the world.
“I urge the youths to take this opportunity and venture into agriculture because it has a long value chain to accommodate everyone irrespective of their field of study.’’
Odida, who also lauded the federal government for granting loans/grants to youths to venture into agriculture, said she was able to access N1million loan which she used to start her poultry farm business.
She however complained that most young graduates who are unemployed are unaware of the loans/grants because they have no interest in agriculture.
“Miss Agriculture was established for us to enlighten the youths and create the advocacy on the benefits attached in the value chain.
“The crown I wear as Miss Agriculture is to attract the youths and let them know that there is much they can benefit if they take up the challenge to become agropreneurs,” Odida said. (NAN)
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Tags: Eucharia Odida University of Calabar
