By Dorcas Elusogbon
Ile-Ife (Osun), Feb 18, 2023
The Former Head of Department, Agricultural Economics, Faculty of Agriculture, Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Prof Adeolu Ayanwale, has tasked youths on promoting agriculture through technology.
Ayanwale threw the challenge during a Training/Capacity Building Workshop on “Scaling-up Lifelong learning for Farmers (L3F) in Nigeria” sponsored by the Commonwealth of Learning in Conjunction with OAU and ARMTI, on Saturday, in Ile-Ife.
Ayanwale said that the lifelong learning workshop was organised for the farmers to update and upgrade themselves because learning is a continuous exercise, and this would assist them to master the environment they are operating in.
“Anyone who stops learning is dead whether at twenty or eighty, but whosoever keeps learning stays young,” he said, adding that the greatest thing in life is to keep one’s mind young.
He added that quite a number of youths are out of school, dwelling in urban areas, mostly unemployed, but not interested in farming despite a lot of potential in agriculture.
The Convener explained that lifelong training would help the youths to use their phones and ICT tools such as small messages to draw the attention of their colleagues in the urban areas to agricultural activities which would arouse their interest back to the farms thereby becoming gainfully employed.
He said that there are lots of potentials in using lifelong learning for farmers to ensure the inclusion of the youths and women in the Agricultural programmes of the government.
“We can also improve their productivity, output per unit area, such that at the end of the day the main aim of the sustainable development goals would be achieved.”
Especially the target of zero poverty, leaving no one behind and zero hunger among others. All these would be achieved by using lifelong learning for farmers.
According to him, the workshop was meant for non-governmental organizations (NGOs), so as to serve as catalyst to encourage others.
He advised farmers to take interest in lifelong learning so that at the end of the day, everyone will be the best for it.
Earlier, the Head of Department of Agricultural Economics, OAU, Prof Adebayo Akinola, welcomed all the participants to the programme and commended the organisers.
Akinola said that the programme came at the appropriate time and was designed to bring together farmers, learning Institutions, banks and information and Communication technology providers to facilitate learning for development in the rural area.
According to him, the workshop would empower vulnerable farmers and their families to gain knowledge of skills to increase their productivity and guarantee food security and would liberate agricultural communities from socioeconomic constraints.
He assured the participants that lifelong learning for farmers would improve their incomes through quality produce and would enhance their livelihoods and eradicate poverty in the rural areas.
“This makes it an inevitable tool for rural community development and a means for the achievement of Millennium Development Goals of eradicating hunger and poverty,” the HoD stated.
Also, the Executive Director, ARMTI, Dr Olufemi Oladunni, who delivered a lecture on: “Gender-responsive strategies for attainment of SDGs”, stressed that gender discrimination especially against women farmers should be avoided.
Oladunni, who was represented by the Institute’s Faculty Member who doubles as trainer, Dr Adeola Aremu, suggested that the same opportunities should be given to both male and female farmers so as to achieve the sustainable Development Goals.
He called for women participation in decision making, empowerment programmes and capacity building as well as financial assistance schemes, security and access to information all of which will contribute to the attainment of the SDGs.
Oladunni added that the workshop would dispense information resulting from agricultural research and development to the target farmers in rural areas where they are most needed.
A Lecturer at the Department of Agricultural Extension and Rural Development, Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Prof Olanike Deji, spoke on the “Role of Institutions towards achieving the SDG of Food Security.”
Deji explained that government should work towards achieving zero hunger and food security as part of SDG 2, adding that Institutions have a role to play in achieving the goals.
According to her, Agriculture in Nigeria is subsistence as majority of the work force are at the small scale level whereby they cultivate crops for their family’s use alone.
The Don said that majority of small-scale farmers are major stakeholders who reside in rural communities and due to the vital role they play, must be carried along and be targets of every policy.
“The three major workforce in agriculture that must be important targets of every programme are: small scale family farmers, Community rural women farmers and the youths.
“These three workforces are germane to achieve food security, they are major force in agriculture and agriculture value chain, they are the ones that take farm produce from the level of production to the table of consumers.
“They are the majority of the actors, but unfortunately, especially women are at the disadvantaged end. When it comes to access to resources, capacity building and recognition of their efforts, women are usually looked down upon,” she stressed.
She maintained that if we want to have food security, to produce what we eat and even export to other countries, the workforce must be prioritised.
She stressed that for the nation to be totally delivered from food insecurity nationwide, rural women must be given significant attention and must be empowered with the resources to meaningfully engage in their farming.
In the same vein, Professor of Agricultural Economics, University of Ibadan, Prof Victor Okoruwa, delivered a lecture on: “Prioritizing the value-chain for the attainment of SDG of self-sufficiency,” while Dr Kehinde Ayo, from the Agricultural Economics Department, Faculty of Agriculture, Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), spoke on: “Planning & Training of others for L3F.”
