The National Agricultural Land Development Authority (NALDA) is set to establish Institute of Agribusiness and Entrepreneurship across the six geo-political zones of the country.
The establishment of the NALDA Institute of Agribusiness and Entrepreneurship is aimed at supporting the growth and development of Agribusiness in Nigeria by transforming agribusiness into a modern and appealing career path for the youth through a combination of practical training, specialised curriculum, cutting-edge technology and entrepreneurial education in the field of agribusiness and agronomic practices.
Speaking on the establishment of the Institute, the Executive Secretary of NALDA, Prince Paul Ikonne, said the first of the Institutes would commence in September in Aba, Abia State.
He explained that the campus is fully equipped with facilities needed to build a formidable school of agribusiness
This, he explained, would in turn translate to the country being better positioned to attain food security and ensuring a stable and sufficient food supply for the nation in line with President Bola Tinubu’s food security agenda.
“As Nigeria faces the pressing challenge of an aging population of farmers the NALDA Institute targets catching the youngsters early in life from the primary to the tertiary level by introducing them to Agribusiness early while also serving as a platform for professional research.
“The institute in Aba boasts of a completed 600 capacity student sport complex, two administrative blocks, libraries and laboratories, a clinic, nine solar powered boreholes, 30 rooms hostel and 4 classroom blocks with a total of 24 classrooms.
“The Aba Campus also holds a 50,000 capacity fish pond, poultry pens, 5000 capacity Snail house, fish hatchery, 50 cage grass -cutter pens, crop fields, 3 tractors, hand held harvesters and 9 boreholes to cater for the needs of both the farm and that of the Institute.
“We also came up with NALDA Institute of Agribusiness and Entrepreneurship that has the approval of Mr. President.
“And the school is taking-off in September. We have students that are going to start in September; the one in Abia is fully ready and will commence the 2024/2025 Academic Session this September.
“The one in Ogun State is 99% completed and they will commence academic session by next year.
“The Institute in Katsina is 89% completed. So, these are projects that we initiated with the idea and knowledge that if we don’t catch them young into agriculture, agricultural production and agribusiness, we will lose farmers as the current generation of farmers are aging and retiring.
“This is why we came up with the NALDA Institute of Agribusiness and Entrepreneurship from primary to secondary to OND level,” he explained.
While reeling out some of the achievements of NALDA in the last four years, as the Executive Secretary of NALDA, Prince Paul Ikonne said, he was proud of how far the Authority has come gone and giant strides recorded.
Reminiscing on how he was handed-over NALDA to resuscitate in 2020 without an office or staff to work with, Ikonne said from reclaiming NALDA’s lands to partnering with States to empowering youths across the country, was done one step at a time.
