FG trains, empowers 60 Edo, Delta poultry farmers

The Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security, on Thursday, trained 60 poultry farmers from Edo and Delta states on advanced poultry production techniques. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the ministry also distributed one cartoon of day-old-chicks and feeds to each participant, under the presidential programme on food security. NAN also reports that the farmers received stipends to ease their transportation. Declaring the training open, the Permanent Secretary of the ministry, Dr Ernest Umakhihe, said it was geared toward improving the livelihood of youths in the two states through capacity building and empowerment. Umakhihe, represented by Rose Igbinedion, a Senior Agric Officer in the ministry, noted that the small-holder farmers constituted about 70 to 80 per cent of the agricultural production in Nigeria. “However, they are faced with challenges emanating from inadequate access to financial services and feeds problem in poultry production. “It is, therefore, important for the youth to be supported, trained and empowered to address the challenges of gender inequality, unemployment and poverty. “The ministry thus developed training and empowerment programme on modern method of poultry production to provide the easiest and most readily accessible agri-business to support 60 youths in Edo and Delta states,” he said. According to him, the training will help the participants to meet their immediate household socio-economic obligations. Also speaking, the Coordinator of the ministry in Edo, Dr Samuel Owoicho, said that the training and empowerment programme was part of government’s efforts to mitigate the challenges confronting poultry farmers in the two states. Owoicho noted that the programme was another evidence that the President Bola Ahmed Tinubu-led administration was committed to the success of poultry farmers in Edo and Delta. In his address of welcome, the Programme Manager, Edo Agricultural Development Project (ADP), Dr Edward Izevbigie, thanked the federal government for the gesture. Izevbigie urged the poultry farmers to take advantage of the training and empowerment to create wealth for themselves. Secretary of Poultry Association of Nigeria, Edo chapter, who spoke on behalf of the participants, thanked the federal government and urged his colleagues to ensure best practices in poultry production.