The Ekiti State Commissioner for Agriculture and Food Security, Ebenezer Boluwade has said that the State’s Broiler Production Scheme is an initiative designed to reduce unemployment among youths, create job and wealth opportunities in the state.
The Commissioner stated this on Friday at Erifun Farm, Ado-Ekiti while visiting the participants on the seventh cycle of the broiler production.
Speaking with journalists, Mr Boluwade explained that the programme, basically meant for training and empowerment has unlocked many opportunities for the participants interested in business after graduation.
He revealed that the World Bank is coming up with Poultry Clusters in the state, which would enable interested youths to breed broilers, stressing that priority would be placed on the participants of the Broiler scheme to be beneficiaries.
The Commissioner also disclosed that about N1m was given as a profit to each graduate of the defunct cycle, adding that the current participants would also benefit from the same offer.
Another highlight of his visit was the announcement of a 20% stipends increment for the participants, boosting their pay from N50,000 to N60,000, to further improve their productivity.
He also used the opportunity to advise the participants to use the forthcoming grants for purposeful businesses and not divert it into frivolous activities.
His words, “This is our seventh cycle and the purpose of the Ekiti State Broiler Production Programme is to do training and empowerment.
“Some of them have graduated and they got a profit of almost a million naira each to start up their own business.
“The people that are here too will soon graduate and when they do, they graduate with empowerment. The money and the profits generated belongs to them; and in a nutshell, they are working for themselves, paid stipends for the work done and the profits go back to them.
“We are not doing it in Erefun alone, we have Ikole, Ilupeju, Ido, we have more than 100 participants who are on this cycle. At the end of the day, that’s when we will know the number of participants who will graduate because not all of them will graduate.
“This scheme has reduced unemployment in the society and I’m sure if we empower them today, the necessary things will be done by them.
“The good thing is that the World Bank is supporting us and it’s coming up with Poultry Clusters in Ekiti. The people that will benefit are the participants before we look for others. In essence, we have created a platform for job and wealth creation in Ekiti State”
On his part, the Permanent Secretary of Ekiti State Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security, Ojo Babatope also reiterated the commitment of the Ministry towards creating jobs and wealth through agriculture, saying the scheme is basically designed to make agriculture fruitful for the youths.
A participant, Afesojaye Aderemi lauded the program, saying it has exposed her to many opportunities.
Another participant, Abdulfatai Ayomide acknowledged that the program would reduce unemployment among youths, urging them to dabble into agriculture rather than chasing white collar jobs.