Youth Capacity Building and Resource Management Through Vocational Agriculture by Emmanuel Essien Bassey

ABSTRACT
It is disheartening that with the best lands available, Nigeria is battling to feed its citizens. The Nigeria import profile has risen with no visible end. One of the reasons for this mishap is inefficient youth capacity building programmes for sustainable agricultural production. Also, Nigeria is virtually a mono-sector economy as
demonstrated by its over dependence on the capital intensive oil sector for survival. The largely subsistence agricultural sector has failed to produce enough food to keep up with rapid population growth and the country which was once a large net exporter of agricultural products, now constitutes the main “dump” of foreign food products. The capacity of Nigerian youths for agriculture could be developed and enhanced through
skill training. There is need for youth friendly policies, curriculum reform, effective agricultural internship in colleges and universities, establishment of model skill centres for retraining o f youths, provision of grants and subsidies and exposure to field trips and exhibitions.
KEYWORDS: Youth, Vocational agriculture, capacity buildings resource management, agricultural skills.