2SCALE Thematic Papers Not By Technology and Money Alone | Page 15

4. From a spark
to a flame: Nigerian
youths farming with
business in mind
By Ndukuba Chika,
partnership
facilitator, Nigeria
Key themes: Youth organisation, PO & Cluster development, Functional capacities
Rice-Nigeria PPP Summary
The partnership focuses
on increasing the
productivity of quality
paddy and linking
producer groups with
local value chain actors
to serve the national rice
market. The development of youth cooperative organisations and
leadership skills within the 2SCALE rice partnership in
Nigeria is the main story line here, with the author focusing
on an entrepreneurial young farmer called Shimave.
When the youth cooperatives came up against obstacles
to get credit for inputs, coaching on building business
relationships and credit management provided the right
stimulus. The youths then built links with local input
dealers and credit providers and developed their clusters.
As a result, marketing options are now expanding.
Shimave Felix was not the kind of young person anyone
would ordinarily listen to. He did not have the air of a local
youth leader or a politician of influence. That was a couple
of years ago. Today, the 25-year-old Shimave is not only
respected in his community in Zango but his influence is
growing fast. He is part of the young population in Nige-
ria’s North-Central region where the state slogan is “Food
basket of the nation”. Even so, young people in the region
are generally disinterested in agriculture. There are many
challenges, such as lack of inputs, available market, pricing
and technical skills, that make agribusiness unattractive to
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them. Young people make statements like “…tah!, better
make I go town go dey wash people motor get money than
to farm” meaning “better to work as a car washer than to
farm.”
Modeling a new journey
Shimave’s new journey began in 2013 with his participation
in the 2SCALE project. He joined other in training work-
shops on good agricultural practices, including rice nursery
management, use of improved seed, transplanting of young