The National Directorate of Employment (NDE) has trained 99 youths and women on goat breeding in Benue state to boost their income level and create jobs.
The participants were drawn from across the 23 Local Government Areas of the state for the five-day training in Makurdi.
The Director-General of NDE, Alhaji Abubakar Nuhu Fikpo, said the commencement of the training in small stock (goat) production scheme and the 2022 post-sustainable agricultural development scheme (post-SADTS) would create income and employment for participants.
Fikpo who was represented by Mrs Ann Eta, a senior staff from the NDE headquarter, Abuja, urged participants to pay attention during the training period.
State Coordinator of NDE, Williams Agada, explained that the beneficiaries of the training are expected to harness the opportunity to create employment and promote high productivity.
“In Nigeria, goat breeding is an economically viable business venture because its value chain has great employment potential. It enjoys a very wide market share with all the products in high demand.”
The NDE Head of Department on SADT in Benue, Emmanuel Oche, said the new scheme of small stock (goat) production training is being held in 17 states including Benue.
Oche noted that the participants would be taught techniques of the use of insecticides, herbicides, pesticides, knapsack sprayer operations, digital marketing of agric produce among other modern agricultural production techniques.