Four National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) members have benefited from N16.5 million grant and technical support for emerging winners at the virtual Farmers for the Future Grant competition organised by the British-American Tobacco Nigeria Foundation (BATNF) in Lagos.
The Chief Executive, Sokvikia Enterprises, Victoria Emmanuel, a catfish processing firm in Kogi State, emerged the overall winner and was awarded the prize of N3 million.
The first runner-up prize of ¦ 2 million was awarded to the Chief Executive FarmCAS, Chidinma Ezeh, an agricultural human resources service organisation, while Paul Ugorji of Swift Fish Farm received N1 million for finishing third.
The winners were among the six finalists earlier selected from over 20,000 participants who registered for the contest sponsored by the BATN Foundation.
The F4F grant is an agricultural entrepreneurship designed to support young NYSC members who run viable agri-business, with equity-free capital and other support they may require to upscale their businesses.
The Grant provides access to technical training through a rigorous bootcamp facilitated by subject matter experts. It also provides them access to mentorship with renowned agripreneurs in their areas of interest, and finally, access to finance to upscale their agriculture enterprise.
In his opening address, the outgoing Director-General, NYSC, Brig-General Shuaibu Ibrahim, who was represented by the Director, Skills Acquisition and Entrepreneurship Department (SAED), Alhaja Walida Isa Saddique, expressed appreciation to the management of BATN Foundation for initiating the programme through which corps members are empowered with start-up capital and technical support to establish and scale their agribusinesses.
He noted that the training and technical support received are in tandem with the objectives of the NYSC, which is to build the spirit of self-reliance in the youth and encourage them to contribute their quota to the socio-economic development.
He commended the impact the programme has made since its inception, making reference to the enormous impact made by earlier winners who have successfully established their agribusinesses and are contributing towards the economic development of Nigeria as well as creating jobs for other youths.
The Acting General Manager, BATN Foundation, Oludare Odusanya, expressed his gratitude to the bootcamp facilitators and judges for taking out time to help prepare and select the most deserving Agripreneur, while also reiterating the Foundations commitment to ensuring continuous support of young people participating in agriculture.
Since its incorporation, the Foundation has established over 200 community development projects across the 36 States and the Federal Capital Territory, promoting modern agricultural practices among smallholder farmers and providing the financial support needed to move them from subsistence to commercial farming.