HarvestPlus Nigeria has intensified effort to reach out to as many Nigerians as possible by engaging young school leavers with a view to making them partners through sustainable agricultural entrepreneurship, in furtherance of its objectives, chief among which are the promotion and adoption of Vitamin A biofortified staple crops, and delivery to Nigerians especially the rural poor,

At a monthly National Youth Service Corps’ (NYSC) community development programme for the youth corps members serving in Akinyele Local Government Area of Ibadan, Oyo State, which held last Thursday, HarvestPlus’s team, led by Paul Ilona, the country manager, was at the Skills Acquisition and Entrepreneurship Development (SAED) training to sensitize the corps members on the huge opportunities in Vitamin A Cassava production and distribution.

Speaking to the over three hundred corps members present at the training, Ilona said: “HarvestPlus is pleased to showcase to you opportunities in Vitamin A Cassava value chain, which will help you to reach your potential, generate income and employ others.”

He added that HarvestPlus is committed to fighting hidden hunger manifested through micronutrient deficiencies in foods by deploying biofortified staple crops and foods to the vulnerable population across the country and urged the youth corps members to partner with the organization to achieve this noble objective.

He highlighted areas of active entrepreneurial engagement that the youth corps members can invest in to include: Vitamin A cassava stem multiplication; tuberous root production; service provision; and establishment of point of sale (POS) outlets in strategic locations, among others.

“Last year, over 450,000 farmers received Vitamin A Cassava stems from HarvestPlus. This year, over 500,000 farmers will get stems for multiplication across the country and this comes in a value range of about N240 million,” Ilona said.

“Last year, we opened a pioneer point of sale (POS) to demonstrate to our partners that there is market for their Vitamin A cassava products. This year, HarvestPlus intends to work with partners from the nooks and crannies of Nigeria to establish 300 more points of sale. An online sales portal to connect the points of sale is nearing completion with huge benefits for those who come on board now,” Ilona further urged.

He assured the corps members that HarvestPlus will train willing partners and provide technical support to ensure their successful take-off.

According to HarvestPlus, the organization will continue to work with strategic partners to deepen knowledge, penetration and adoption of biofortified cassava products in Nigeria. Last year, the organization partnered Nollywood to produce a movie entitled “Yellow Cassava” and looks out for further opportunities to engage more groups in 2015.

Mrs Abimbola Ajayi, NYSC’s Local Government Inspector (LGI) for Akinyele LGA, thanked HarvestPlus for the Vitamin A Cassava initiative and the effort to reach out to the youth corps members as a way of helping them to plan their future if they wish to invest in agriculture.

She described the youth as a critical segment of the population whose role in Government’s effort to create jobs and eradicate poverty can never be over-emphasized and urged the corps members to key into the Vitamin A Cassava initiative to enrich themselves and benefit the country by becoming HarvestPlus’s ambassadors.

Ajayi added that Government established SAED with a view to equipping youth corps members with useful skills that will enhance their life after the service year.

In his comment, Mr Akinyode Emmanuel, president of the Corps Members’ Educational Development Group for Akinyele LGA, thanked HarvestPlus for the training and promised that the group will continue to build on the foundation already laid by HarvestPlus to ensure they maximize the benefits of the skills acquisition training.

One of the youth corps members with HarvestPlus Nigeria, Samson Uche Onyekwelu, said introducing the benefits of Vitamin A cassava to his colleagues was borne out of the need to help build capacity that will sustain the youth in future.

Highlight of the training session was the inspection of Vitamin A Cassava products like Vitamin A Garri, Vitamin A Fufu, Vitamin A Cake, Vitamin A Chinchin, etc at the venue by the NYSC officials and the corps members.

HarvestPlus leads a global effort to improve nutrition and public health by developing and deploying staple food crops that are rich in vitamins and minerals. We work with diverse partners in more than 40 countries.

HarvestPlus is part of the CGIAR Research Program on Agriculture for Nutrition and Health (A4NH).

CGIAR is a global agriculture research partnership for a food secure future. Its science is carried out by its 15 research centers in collaboration with hundreds of partner organizations.

The HarvestPlus program is coordinated by two of these centers, the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) and the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).