Sector Counsellor of Food and Agriculture at the Royal Danish Consulate General in Lagos, Nigeria, Sanne Chipeta, and Snorri Sigurdsson, a Danish investor in Nigeria, emphasised that access to land, education, and finance is essential for encouraging young people to engage in agriculture and achieve success in their endeavours.

During a recent visit to the IITA Youth in Agribusiness (IYA) Office at the institute’s headquarters in Ibadan, Oyo State, the team noted that Nigeria has the potential to boost agricultural productivity by harnessing its abundant human and natural resources.

Chipeta highlighted the importance of addressing literacy and land access issues in a structured manner to promote efficiency and sustainability as efforts to encourage more youth to engage in agriculture continue.

“We are always talking about this issue of needing young people in agriculture because we need to change the notion, and we have this huge young generation that needs employment, food, etc.

“There is also the narrative of young people being lazy, which begs the question: who are those to work in the fields?” she remarked.

She emphasised that addressing the issue of farmers’ lack of land rights is crucial, as without access to land, they are also denied access to finance. Moreover, she noted that Nigeria faces a serious challenge with a generation of young people who lack literacy skills.

According to her, education needs to be comprehensively institutionalised rather than relying on sporadic projects.

In his remarks, Sigurdsson, a dairy farm management specialist and Senior Project Manager at Arla Global Dairy Products Limited, stressed the need to incentivize young people to embrace agriculture as it competes with other sectors like Information Technology.

“In Denmark, a job in agriculture competes with jobs in high-level companies. All farmers in Denmark are educated. Therefore, to get a young person with a sound educational level to work on the farm, you must match good companies’ salaries. Young farmers should not only survive, they should also have thriving businesses, he said.

Sigurdsson urged Nigerian farmers to adopt the cooperative model used in Sweden, where thousands of farmers collaborate to stabilise prices. He highlighted that by working together, farmers can control and set prices, emphasising the importance of collective action. He stated, “It is extremely important to get it into people’s minds that it’s okay to work together; that’s when you are in charge. The cooperative system works.”

The team expressed their willingness to collaborate with the Youth in Agribusiness Office. “I have been positively surprised after I visited IITA to know what is being done,” Sigurdsson said.