The Acting Director General of the National Directorate of Employment, Mallam Abubakar Fikpo, launched the 2021 sustainable agricultural development training scheme in Owerri, Imo State.
Fikpo who was represented by the NDE coordinator in Imo, Mrs. Ngozi Iheanacho thanked the Federal Government for its youth friendly initiatives. He also thanked the NDE in Imo State for a transparent selection of 100 beneficiaries of the scheme and pledged to work together with the state government to achieve the desired results.
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Fikpo said, “Today’s programme marks a significant milestone in the history of Rural Employment Promotion schemes designed to reflect emerging trends to grow rural employment through agribusiness engagements.”
“This programme is in line with Federal Government’s policy on agriculture for employment, wealth creation and food sufficiency, and we will work together with the state government for best results,”
Fikpo admonished the participants to take the three-month-long training seriously, as well as avail themselves of other opportunities offered by their participation in NDE activities.
The Director of the REP scheme department, Mr Michael Mbata, also stated that the first two weeks of the programme would focus on theoretical training, while the remaining period would be for activities at the adaptive farm.
Mbata, who was represented by a deputy director in the department, Chukwuma Jinanwa, assured that the NDE would not relent in its constitutional mandate of imparting skills that would translate into self-employment, adding that the training curriculum was structured to include major areas of modern agricultural production, crop farming, livestock production, apiculture and marketing
