Agrisiti Nigeria, in collaboration with Tagdev 2.0 and the University of Port Harcourt, has launched a free 12-week Agribusiness and Climate-Smart Skills Programme aimed at training 3,500 young Nigerians across seven states.
A statement by Agrisiti on Thursday said the programme, supported by the Regional Universities Forum for Capacity Building in Agriculture in partnership with the Mastercard Foundation, targets youths aged 18 to 35 in Ogun, Enugu, Cross River, Rivers, Bayelsa, Kano, and Niger states.
Designed for out-of-school youths and learners in technical and vocational education and training, the initiative will run concurrently across the participating states.
It revealed that participants would access mobile-first learning through Telegram and the Agrisiti Digital Learning Platform, alongside hands-on practical sessions at designated state demonstration hubs.
It maintained that the programme would provide practical training in modern agribusiness, with a focus on rice and aquaculture value chains.
It will also offer mentorship from industry experts, access to startup networks, career readiness support including internship pathways, and a digital certificate upon successful completion.
Speaking on the initiative, the Chief Operating Officer of Agrisiti, Eneyi Ante, said the programme was designed to bridge critical gaps limiting youth participation in Nigeria’s agricultural sector.
He explained, “Nigeria’s rice and aquaculture sectors hold immense potential, but many young people lack the training, mentorship, and access needed to participate meaningfully.
“This programme equips them with practical, climate-smart skills to build sustainable agribusinesses or pursue career opportunities across these value chains.”
Although agriculture contributes about 15.4 per cent of Africa’s Gross Domestic Product, Nigeria continues to grapple with high levels of hunger and malnutrition.
Globally, an estimated 828 million people were undernourished in 2021, while more than 3.1 billion people could not afford a healthy diet,” Ante said.
It added that despite agriculture’s economic potential, studies showed that many African youths are increasingly disengaging from the sector.
The statement explained that the Agrisiti–UNIPORT initiative seeks to reverse this trend by strengthening entrepreneurial and employment pathways in rice and aquaculture, promoting inclusive and climate-smart agribusiness practices, and enhancing youth employability through mentorship, incubation, and networking opportunities.
Agrisiti Nigeria Ltd is a digital agritech company providing integrated urban farming, education, and hardware solutions that enable sustainable food production for livelihood and subsistence. The company develops compact, high-yield farming systems such as aquaponics, hydroponics, and recirculating aquaculture systems tailored for urban spaces.
Through AI-powered, mobile-first learning platforms and hands-on training, Agrisiti equips young people and smallholder farmers with agribusiness, climate-smart, and employability skills, helping to build a new generation of tech-enabled urban farmers across Africa.
