WEST AFRICA
“
I found myself on the farm because, for
me, I found agriculture to be fabulous.
I’ve found the most important thing to
combat in my country is hunger…by
learning to feed ourselves, we may be
able to satisfy our domestic market.
Initially, youth would come for a month-
long training, which Adesola learned
was not enough time to train a qualified
farm manager. Now, every three months,
trainees from across Nigeria come to
learn vegetable production and farm
management. be very lucrative. In addition, Adesola
admonishes youth of the necessity to
“get your hands dirty,” but emphasizes
that “farming is a lucrative business if
you know your market, and if you can
meet its requirement in volume and
quality.”
Surprisingly, many of her trainees have
already graduated from university. They
are seeing that agriculture can often For Adesola, “The future is bright for
agriculture, [but] what the youth need
are facilities to produce in.” In her
view, training farms like her own are
filling the gap for information sharing,
but opportunities exist for improved
financing for young agricultural
entrepreneurs.
“What we are doing here is on a very
small scale,” Adesola admits, but
involving, training, and empowering
youth “is a way out of our food crisis.”
8