With an ever-increasing population in Nigeria, the challenge is how to produce enough food to meet demand. Some higher institutions are addressing the challenge through agricultural projects. DANIEL ESSIET reports that this initiative will enhance food security.
Students of agricultural science in tertiary institutions need practical skills to be employable or or self-employed. To this end, many higher institutions are undertaking agriculture projects to build innovative entrepreneurs across the country. One of such schools is the Federal College of Animal Health and Production Technology (FCAH&PT), Moor Plantation, Ibadan, Oyo State.
While the school offers academic opportunities to prospective students in Animal Health and Production, it also provides a hands-on approach to course content and encourage students to gain the practical experience required.
To train agriculture professionals, research and community service, the school established farms of the major domestic livestock species such as beef, dairy, sheep and goats and poultry.
The primary objective of establishing these farms, according to the institution is to support the practical teaching and service activities in the field of animal sciences. The college also raises goats, pigs and snails.
Across the school, there are a variety of campus farms that function as demonstration centres and laboratories where students can witness and participate in animal husbandry. From one edge, farms can be seen stretching all the way to the horizon.
Speaking on the development, the school’s Acting Provost, Dr Friday Nworgu said campus farms are vital because real practical farming would help graduates start something on their own on completion of their studies, adding that it is hard to get youths involved in functional agriculture if they don’t have the know-how and skills to carry out profitable farming.
Since the school’s strenght is animal husbandry, Nworgu said the campus farms are used for hands-on instruction in a variety of courses offered through the Department of Animal Sciences, ranging from livestock management to horse nutrition and small ruminant.
However, the school has started to build and restock its livestock farms to stimulate entrepreneurial agriculture.
One area the college is taking seriously is horse breeding. This is because few people have knowledge of horse breeding. Polo racing is perhaps the most glamorous and money-spinning animal sport. However, behind every champion on the race tracks lies the masterly skill of its breeding. The college is taking advantage of it to raise horse breeding entrepreneurs.
The market is there as lots of polo clubs are emerging that need exotic horses. He said the school will train Nigerians on how to raise horses.
To achieve this, the school is banking on the strength and capacities of its faculty, while Ibadan has climate and geographical advantages to become a major player in this form of agriculture.
According to him, the infrastructure is there and there is a large farm house for horses. He added that the horse facility was designed to breed high quality purebred horses. There is a breeding shed, an indoor arena/classroom complex, and a storage shed. There are barns on the facility that are used to quarantine new horses. This gives students the opportunity to experience all aspects of horse preparation. The mission of the breeding programme is to produce exotic breeds, combining type, conformity, and athleticism with the trainability required for use in a programme with extensive student involvement.
At the end, the Acting Provost sees a new breed of young entrepreneurs combining their love of farming and agriculture with an acquired professional business approach.
FCAH&PT stands out today as one higher institution with horse breeding programme in the country.
Nworgu said the primary mission of the college horse breeding programme is to educate the next generation of horse persons and solve industry problems through applied scientific research.
The philosophy is to maintain the highest quality of livestock possible on its farms for those purposes.
While the students benefit, the quality of life of the residents who use the place as a hub for acquiring skills towards entrepreneurship is enhanced.
According to him, the unprecedented commitment of the present government to seriously address the need for employment generation is a propitious opportunity for higher institutions to implement strategies for generating full employment in the country.
For him, promoting agro entrepreneurship will lead to higher productivity that will unleash multiplier effect on the value chain by increasing demand for farm and non-farm products and services.
One of the instructors, Dr Oladipo Tunbosun said the endeavour involves meticulous planning and immaculate techniques. To this end, the school has to pay attention to proper feeding and grooming of the horses. On the whole, he sees countless revenue possibilities in the horse industry. Graduates of the horse programme go on to have successful careers within the equine industry focusing on areas such as training, horse farm management, and equine-related businesses.
Generally, experts believe if higher institutions are to salvage the economy, he said a lot of efforts have to be put into agricultural entrepreneurship activities.
One of them is the Project Manager, Cassava: Adding Value for Africa (C:AVA), Natural Resources Institute, University of Greenwich, United Kingdom, Dr Kola Adebayo.
Stressing the importance of providing agro entrepreneurship training, Adebayo said a combination of good farming practices, and the integration of technology will make the difference in a successful farm that is able to help feed the nation. This ,he said is achievable with the rising trend of entrepreneurship agriculture.
A entrepreneurial tour of the Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta will show farms and food-related businesses.
Highlighted are high quality sustainable crop production using conventional farming systems, and more.
FUNAAB offers facilities that are capable of training future agro entrepreneurs. This is obvious with a number of farming projects scattered across its campus. There are a variety of chicken breeds, developed for egg production, meat production, and/or good looks. While many breeds are adaptable to a backyard setting, certain breeds are better than others for backyard conditions.
Other facilities include the cassava production unit, the bakery, palmwine unit, palm oil unit, cashew nut unit, pineapple plantation, college of animal science and livestock production cattle production venture farm and the institute of food security, environment resources and agricultural research farm.
The university engages in the training of production-oriented agricultural graduates which equips them to be job creators rather than job seekers. To achieve this, the university entrenched farm practical curriculum in the B. Agriculture programme between 300 and 400 level. The peak of the training is the mandatory six months exclusive farm practical year programme (FPY) at the penultimate year of the B.Agric programme which objectives are to: expose the students to work methods, tools, techniques and practices not taught in the theory class, bringing trainees in direct contact with farm staff and local farmers to obtain first hand information on farming conditions and problems.
The Farm Practical Year (FPY) programme afford the trainees the opportunity to “learn by doing” by undertaking practical farming activities on both crop and livestock sections of the university.
The Federal Government recently directed that FPY programme be extended to one year from the six months it previously was.
Addressing Stakeholders’ Workshop, at the Nigerian Institute of Social and Economic Research, Ibadan, FUNAAB Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Olusola Oyewole said graduates were expected to be practising farming as a business venture in an exemplary and successful manner that will in turn reduce unemployment level, enhance farm production, increase food production and food security. It will also reduce food importation and improve livelihoods of farm households by invariably leading to the overall national economic growth and development.
The don observed that these aspirations remained unfulfilled despite the establishment of the specialised Universities of Agriculture for a number of reasons that had prevented the nation from attaining its desired rapid economic development through agriculture.
These reasons include the difficulty in getting fresh graduates to take up farming as a means of livelihood after leaving school, increasing ageing farming population, over-dependence on food importation, food price instability and political crisis.
He said: “Agriculture and farm-related occupations remain unpopular among young people because of its inherent association with poverty, drudgery and backwardness. The undergraduate agriculture training programmes in universities have not helped matters much as it only mimics the existing methods of farming by the local populace with its practical component depending on manual labour and minimal application of modern technology.
“The result has been declining enrollment in undergraduate agriculture programmes and the growing lack of interest in farming among youths.”
According to him, Universities of Agriculture, by their very foundation would appear to have a covenant with the society, arguing that the covenant is to develop a cadre of young, dynamic modern farmers that would develop innovative practices in agriculture, the economy, reduce poverty and bring about sustainable development of the sector. He lamented that this covenant with the society has largely remained unfulfilled.
Despite of the challenges, he said the giant strides recorded by FUNAAB, in fostering innovation for inclusive development through its institute of food security, environmental resources and agricultural research; agricultural media resources and extension centre; students’ industrial work experience scheme/farm practical year; agro-industrial park unit; the graduate farming scheme, among others.
The Vice-Chancellor of the Federal University of Technology, Akure (FUTA), Prof.Biyi Daramola, said poor performance of the agriculture sector led to the inability to reach sustainable economic development in Nigeria.
