In Kano State, northern Nigeria, rural youth of the 15-17 age range seriously face agriculture-related problems with profound negative consequences on their livelihood.
Suppression
The Youth suffer minority maltreatment particularly regarding active participation in the activities of producer associations/cooperatives. They are considered naïve. This suppressive attitude is mainly coming from dominant elders within the farmers groups many of whom are close relatives to the youth as typified in rural setting. By tradition, local producer association or cooperative societies are heterogeneous comprising age groups, size of farm holding and type of farm operation (crop, livestock, irrigation, fishery, processing etc). This suggests the youth considered here are resourceful in terms of production factors (land and water). Some of the youth exhibit great potentials for good leadership roles while others are undergoing training in computer-based entrepreneurship for self improvement. Possible solution to youth suppression in producer groups is to identify and regroup youth that exhibit high potentials for intensive training in decentralized agribusiness development. Every local government area of the state should have at least an apex youth producer association (AYPASS) that is highly empowered in leadership, financial and agric-venture management in rural setting.
Blocked opportunity
Practicing youth farmers are clearly blocked from accessing agricultural programs designed to benefit and uplift their agric entrepreneurship status. Blocking youth opportunity is practiced by unruly officials as well as highly placed politicians in the corridors of power. Suitable upcoming youth practicing farmers are replaced by relatives and loyalists of the powers that be. Under this trend the affected youth are rendered frustrated, helpless and agriculturally incapacitated and left with no option than to increase the population of rural-urban migrants. Possible solution to blocking agribusiness opportunity for rural youth is to mobilize participants through AYPASS.
Lack of unity of purpose
This is a continuous hereditary problem that is been passed from old to new generation in rural areas. The rural farming communities do not have sense of unity for collective drive to tackle problems that bedeviled their farming occupation. This is worse during farm produce trading and farm inputs procurement as individuals preferred to do it alone and not in group thereby reducing their profit potential due to increased cost of transaction. The situation explains reasons behind collapse of several pilot intervention agricultural projects in the area. Without farmers operating in unison scaling up and replication of project successes within the focal point farming communities cannot be possible. Possible solution is to organize scaling and replication of successful intervention projects through AYPASS.
Mismanagement of group fund
Fundraising in producer organizations seizes to be successful simply because of leadership mismanagement of fund and the culprits normally get away with it unpunished. In fact, whistle blowers in the group end up taking the bashing that which the offenders ought to have received. The awful trend has seriously poisoned the minds of fresh upcoming youth in the system to the extend some of them believe that it is universally an accepted norm while it is not. The cumulative effect is lost of confidence and trust between members of the producer group and most unfortunate among the upcoming youth themselves. Possible solution is to build AYPASS on standard accounting practice together with provision of broad based connection to finance institutes for funding organizational and business programs.
Vanity
Another killing hereditary problem that is continuously passed to new generation youth is disregard to new knowledge that which concerns their traditional way of farming. Most valued items in life as upheld by rural farmers are land, livestock and traditional knowledge of farming passed from ancestors. An agricultural specialist who comes to assist them is gauged on this bigheaded belief and so there is a limit to penetrating their minds with new knowledge and skill brought to them. To break this problem there is need for continuous field demonstrations on commercial farm operations by AYPASS in the local government area. AYPASS can be supported with ICT devices for effective participation, coverage and outreach and AYPASS office complex can also serve as centre for Open Data exchange, digestion and dissemination for local use.
Girl youth of 15-17 age range
Traditionally girls of this age range are either under preparation for marriage soon or are considered approaching expiry time for marriage as it all depends on many social considerations. Major farm activities they engage upon include post harvest operations such as maize picking, cereal winnowing but certainly not crop management in the field. They are not accepted to participate in producer organizations even when the organization is exclusively for women because of their tender age and the family development role expected of them. Before the marriage and in many cases in post marriage, girl youth of 15-17 have active role in home-bound food business for selling to various outside customers. Examples include boiled/roasted maize, traditional snacks, roast peanut, boiled cassava, and cooked Moringa leaf, fresh vegetables, in front of the house, house to house or in schools, maternity clinics, ministries, Motor Park etc. Girl youth food hawking is a long tradition that can descend to great grand children in a family. Girl food business in food value chain consists of value addition; marketing and servicing that could be refined to benefit wider community members in the rural setting. Because it is a long time tradition with a market value and very important means of stable income to matrimonial women the girl food business has significant potentials to reduce household level poverty and increase self-reliance jobs if properly organized.
In an attempt to reduce the negative impact of these social and economic problems facing Kano state youth, the government introduced new program in 2011 tagged: Empowerment for Youth-Driven Commodity Chain Development (EYDCCD). The program started with camping youth (both gender) in various institutes for three months intensive training on different food commodities that are locally produced.
Case study on the government program will be posted soon.
Thank you.
Sr. Rabiu Auwalu Yakasai