The Ago-Owu research station is located in Ayedade Local Government Area, Osun state, and will primarily serve as a research and training facility that will backstop the state’s agricultural programmes and offer training support to the youth in the area in particular and Nigeria in general.

In 2015, Governor Rauf Aregbesola donated a piece of land measuring about 205.5 hectares to IITA as he sought to bring research closer to the people of the state with a view to creating transformational change in the agricultural sector of the state. IITA accepted the offer with the signing of a memorandum of understanding and began investment on the land with the development of roads and other infrastructure.

Governor Aregbesola said he was glad the MoU with IITA moved beyond paper to implementation and commended it for its research efforts in the last 50 years, adding that the research facility will advance research in Osun state with a spinoff effect on other parts of the country.

“We believe that this research facility will train and empower our youth in modern agriculture,” he said.

The inauguration of the research facility also allowed researchers to make presentations on new findings from cassava weed management, breeding, banana breeding and multiplication, cassava processing, and aflasafe—a technology for controlling aflatoxins among others.

There was a presentation of improved seeds of maize, cowpea, soybean, yam, plantain seedlings, and cassava stems for onward distribution to farmers in Osun state. IITA also gave the governor some quantities of Purdue Improved Crop Storage (PICS) bags which provide simple, low-cost method of reducing post-harvest cowpea losses due to insects’ infestations.

The Director General, IITA, Dr Nteranya Sanginga said, IITA was happy to work with and in Osun state. “This research facility is part of our strategy to take research closer to the people. Our plan is to make this station a one-stop shop where farmers’ needs will be addressed,” he said.

Under the refreshed IITA strategy, IITA plans to lift 11 million people out of poverty in sub-Saharan Africa by 2020 and to reclaim 7.5 million hectares of degraded land and put the land into sustainable use. Achieving this goal entails IITA expanding its partnership scope and strengthening old partnerships.

Dr Sanginga said the Ago-Owu research facility would primarily conduct research on cassava, maize, yam, soybean, banana/plantain and cowpea. “We will also be using the facility to train Nigerian youths in agribusiness,” he added.

The inauguration of Ago-Owo research station brings to six the number of such facilities in Nigeria. Others are located in Onne (Rivers State), Abuja, Mokwa (Niger state), Minjibir (Kano), and Ikene (Ogun State).

Dr Alfred Dixon, Director for Development and Delivery, IITA, said the inauguration of the research facility was a step in the right direction with the potential of bringing many benefits to the people of the state in particular, and the country in general.

He said the research facility would assist the state in accelerating its agricultural reform agenda whose particular focus is on increasing agricultural productivity and job creation.

Established in 1967, IITA is an international agricultural research institution that generates agricultural innovations to meet Africa’s most pressing challenges of hunger, malnutrition, poverty, and natural resource degradation.

Working with various partners across sub-Saharan Africa, IITA improves livelihoods, enhance food and nutrition security, increase employment, and preserve natural resource integrity. The Institute operates in Nigeria and 13 research stations/hubs across sub-Saharan Africa.

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Sanginga, who disclosed this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Ibadan, said the scheme would be sponsored by the federal government and African Development Bank (AFDB).

The director-general said IITA would train those enrolled in the scheme, adding that beneficiaries would be trained on how to make agriculture a business with good networking.

“The programme tagged “Enable Youth Empowerment Agribusiness programme, will engage youths in agribusiness for 18 months to enable them learn how to make agric business plan.

“Each will be given between $25,000 and $300,000 as loan to start a business. The programme started by IITA in 2012, was taken over by the federal government and AFDB to create employment in agric sector.

“To support this objective, the programme will be extended to 36 states and Abuja in September.

“After the programme, we expect the youths to become chief executive officers of factories, companies and creators of jobs rather than job seekers,” he said.

Sanginga urged the youths to develop positive mindset in agriculture and take good advantage of the programme.

“They should be serious with the training because at the end of it only those who did well will be rewarded,” he said.

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Addressing policymakers and youths in the region at a conference organized by Centre for Coordination of Agricultural Research and Development in Southern Africa (CCARDESA), Dr Sanginga said the youth population in the region should be seen as more of an asset than a problem.

“Youths have the energy, and if we are able to tap into this energy we will be able to advance agriculture on the continent,” Dr Sanginga who was represented by Dr Alfred Dixon, said in Durban, South Africa.

Speaking on the topic “Unlocking Agribusiness Opportunities for Youth in Southern Africa,” the Director General gave an account of how a youth program (IITA Youth Agripreneurs) initiated by IITA in 2012 is attracting youths into agriculture, stating that “From zero dollars, these youths have been able to grow their income to $700 per month,” he explained.

“On their own, these young men and women are today managing different enterprises including cassava, maize, vegetables, soybean, banana and plantains, fish, and livestock,” he added.

According to him, the experience of IITA from the youth program clearly demonstrated that with institutional support and mentoring, youths could be engaged in agriculture to make a decent living.

The IITA Youth Agripreneurs (IYA) also gave their presentation during the break-away sessions, in the sub-theme 3 group tagged; The Role of Youth in Innovations and Agribusiness Solution: Cassava Case Study by the IITA Youth Agripreneurs. The presentation was titled:“Cassava Product, Processing and Marketing.”Mustapha Quadri, a member of IYA, gave the presentation after which he took questions from the audience. The presentation was based on the various products and value addition that can be derived from cassava.

“Cassava products were concentrated on due to the fact that the exhibition focused on cassava-based products. Participants visiting the exhibition stands liked the cassava products (eg fufu, garri, tidbits, chinchin, cake and cookies).

Earlier in his keynote address, the Executive Director, Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa (FARA), Dr Yemi Akinbamijo said, “Agricultural sector needs to be transformed in order to provide employment for the youth in Africa and we need to increase value addition to attract the youth.”

The Executive Director of CCARDESA, Prof Timothy Simalenga on his part commended IITA and other partners for initiating youth programs to attract youths into agriculture, and emphasized that CCARDESA would continue to support agricultural development in the region with emphasis on getting more youths engaged in agriculture.

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