By Adeyinka Adeniran
Participants in Oyo State’s Youth Entrepreneurship in Agribusiness Project (YEAP) are to benefit from the N500million loan the government is rolling out to support agribusiness as part of its Sustainable Actions for Economic Recovery (SAfER).
YEAP is an Oyo State programme targeted at training young people in modern technology-driven agribusinesses and providing them with enterprise support.
SAfER is a multi-prong intervention emplaced by Oyo state government to ease the economic burden foisted on the people as a consequence of subsidy removal on Premium Motor Spirit, popularly known as petrol.
The N500million earmarked by the state government as loan for agro-entrepreneurs is one of the measures put in place by the government to empower those in the sector and reinvigorate the economy.
The Oyo State Agribusiness Development Agency (OYSADA), which handles YEAP, facilitated the training of about 3,300 youths in 2021.
According to a statement by OYSADA, the gesture by the state government is to enable the YEAP beneficiaries “apply their knowledge and skills in profitable agribusiness ventures and reshaping the agri-food sector, not just in Oyo State, but across Nigeria.”
The statement urged interested beneficiaries to apply at: https://www.dashboard.farmsured.com/yeap_safer
OYSADA has been providing beneficiaries of its programme with enterprise support on an ongoing basis.
In 2021, the agency provided an opportunity for about 100 of youth agro-entrepreneurs to practise the skills they acquired when some of those in the crop production enterprise were given one hectare of farmland at the Fasola Agribusiness Industrial Hub.
Another set of youths were supported in various farm groups in 11 Local Government Areas with over 200 of the YEAP beneficiaries receiving 25 bundles of cassava, 2.5 bags of fertiliser, and one litre of herbicide each.
The SAfER agribusiness loan will create an opportunity for many of the YEAP beneficiaries to launch their agribusiness initiatives.
