The Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security has trained 60 poultry farmers from Edo and Delta states on advanced poultry production techniques.
Daily Trust on Sunday reports that the ministry also distributed a carton of day-old chicks and feeds to each participant under the presidential programme for food security.
Flagging off the training, the Ministry’s Permanent Secretary, Dr Ernest Umakhihe, said the training was designed to improve the livelihood of youths in Edo and Delta through capacity building and empowerment.
According to him, the smallholder farmers constituted about 70-80 per cent of the agricultural production in Nigeria, noting that they are faced with challenges emanating from inadequate access to financial services and feed problems in poultry production.
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“The federal government developed the training and empowerment programme on modern method of poultry production to provide the easiest and accessible agric business to support 60 youths in Edo and Delta states.”
Represented by Roses Igbinedion, a senior agric officer in the ministry, he stressed the need for youths to be supported, trained and empowered in order to address the challenges of gender inequality, unemployment and poverty.
He said at the end of the day, it is expected that the training will help meet their immediate household socio-economic obligations.
On his part, the Edo State Coordinator of the ministry, Dr Samuel Owoicho, said the training and empowerment was part of government’s efforts to mitigate the challenges confronting poultry farmers in the two states.
Also speaking, the Programme Manager, Edo Agricultural Development Project (ADP), Dr Edward Izevbigie, urged the farmers to take advantage of the training and empowerment to create wealth for themselves.
Speaking on behalf of the participants, the Secretary, Poultry Association of Nigeria, Edo State chapter, while commending the federal government for the training, charged the farmers to ensure best practices in poultry production.
