The Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN) has trained 150 youths and women on Agriculture related business Development Empowerment Programme (ADEP) through capacity building scheme in Bayelsa State.
Speaking during the flag-off of the training Thursday, director general/chief executive officer of SMEDAN, Mr Olawale Fasanya, said the agric-business development and empowerment programme and the National Agripreneurship Training Scheme (NATS) is designed to provide functional knowledge and skill upgrade to start-ups and existing cooperative societies.
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Represented by Mr Uhoboso Abilo, Bayelsa State manager of SMEDAN, Fasanya stated that the commodity associations engaged in the agricultural value-chain, in order to unleash and reinforce agricultural transformation in the state.
He said it is a complete handholding programme consisting of sensitisation/awareness creation, agripreneurship training and machinery support to each cooperative.
He explained that the share of agriculture in Nigeria’s total export earnings remains small compared to crude oil exports, disclosing that in 2019, agriculture accounted for less than 2% of total exports relative to crude oil (76.5%).
He said a total of 256 agricultural cooperative societies comprising 2,560 members in 16 states; namely Kwara, Zamfara, Taraba, Cross River, Ebonyi, Osun, Kebbi, Katsina, Jigawa, Enugu, Abia, Ondo, Ogun, Delta Bauchi and Yobe have benefited from the programme since 2020.
