A multi-million Naira Youth Farming Initiative that will
engage teeming unemployed Nigerian graduates in rice farming has been launched
by the Dangote Rice Limited in Kogi State, reports NaijaAgroNet.
This is coming as the company says its preparing to hit the
market with One million metric tons of Dangote rice in 2018.
A press statement made available to NaijaAgroNet by Francis Awowole-Browne, informed
that the Dangote Youth Rice Farm project, mainly an out-grower scheme
for youths only was flagged off at the Lower Niger River Basin Authority,
Kampe, Ejiba in Yagba West local government area of the state where youth have
embarked on rice cultivation over 100 hectares of land.
He quoted Group Executive Director at Dangote, Mr. Devakumar
Edwin, as saying that the rice farm project, was preceded by a special training
for the youth farmers on the dynamics of the rice farming, will see the youths
cultivating the rice paddy on a 100 hectares of land, which will then be bought
over by the company for processing.
Under the scheme, he explained that the Dangote Rice Company
would provide the seedling, anti-pest-chemicals, and fertilizers while the
Basing Authority provided the land for the young farmers.
Mr. Edwin explained that the project is a new dimension to
the efforts by the pan-African conglomerate, the Dangote Group, at ensuring
food security and creating job opportunities in Nigeria especially for the
youths saying this Initiative is in line with the vision and commitment of
Dangote Industries Limited to create a new generation of agri-preneur that will
revolutionize the Nigerian agricultural sector.
“We believe skill, knowledge, enabling environment,
collaboration and linkages along the value chain are driving forces for
economic empowerment and social development in line with the Federal Government
policies. This project will address the skills gap in local rice production
among unemployed youths by providing technical, organisational and financial
requirements.”
He said it would also enhance domestic rice production to
cover the large gap between demand and domestic production and to increase
self-sufficiency of Nigeria and substitute imported rice by quality Nigerian
rice brands.
Mr. Edwin disclosed that most modern rice mills in Nigeria
presently operate at not more than 20% capacity utilization due mainly to lack
of good quality paddy and that Dangote Rice aimed to change this situation
developing and adapting out-grower schemes. According to him, the Dangote Rice
Company plans to set up a 150,000 metric tons integrated rice mill and sale one
million mt of parboiled rice by 2018.
The Dangote Group boss stated that the decision of the
management to start the project was driven by two factors, one of which is the
need for youth employment through empowerment to go into agriculture. “The
youths are more vulnerable to crimes and other social vices when they have
nothing to engage them and this in turn affect the nation negatively.
“The second factor is the need to strengthen the on-going
efforts at producing rice for self-sufficiency so that we can save foreign
exchange. By the time we will be doing one million metric tons of rice next
year, no less than three million jobs would been created along the value
chain.”
Mr. Edwin said the Kogi pilot project will cover four season
of two years and will be launched in four other states soon.
In his own remark, the Managing Director of Dangote Rice,
Mr. Robert Coleman urged the youth farmers to concentrate on the project and
pay attention to details so that they would come out with good paddy yield.
He congratulated the farmers for the decision to partner
with Dangote Rice noting that they have a solid source of livelihood for
themselves and members of their families if they give their all for the success
of the scheme.
The Coordinator of the youth farmers, Umar Etudaye thanked
the management of Dangote Rice for believing in them and engaging them for the
project. He promised that they would deliver on the mandate given to them on
the project.
He stated that the scheme is a practical step towards nation
building because it’s the youths, who constitute 40 per cent of the population,
would build the nation and only the youths that are empowered and gainfully
employed could do that.
Ogo Nebenanya/GEE
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