The Business of Agriculture Masterclass is back again! As part of its goals to promote the numerous opportunities inherent in the Agricultural sector to Nigerians, the United Nations Private Sector Advisory Group (PSAG) Nigeria Cluster Five is organizing the third edition of the virtual annual e-learning masterclass series.
The Business of Agriculture Masterclass 3.0 seeks to disseminate Agribusiness opportunities through seasoned professionals and industry experts to Nigerians interested in establishing Agribusiness enterprises, investing in Agriculture, and having multiple streams of income.
The Masterclass will hold virtually from 10th to 12th October 2023 starting at 9.00am daily.
The agriculture sector remains one of the key players in the Nigerian economy and the largest employer of labour in the country. According to the former Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, as at February 2023, Agriculture accounted for 23.78 per cent of Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP); almost four times higher than the contribution of the oil sector to the GDP.
Nigeria is said to have the largest population of youth in the world with about 70% of the population under 30, and a median age of 18.1 years. Almost 40 million Nigerians are between ages 15 and 24 years (World Data Atlas, 2020), and based on the youth unemployment rates released by the National Bureau of Statistics in 2022, about 53.4% of youths are unemployed. The agriculture sector being the largest employer of labour in the country offers various value chains which Nigerian youths can take part in. Although there is a lack of interest in Agriculture among majority of youths due to the perceived labour-intensive nature of farming and perceived low-profitability of agricultural enterprises, the Masterclass seeks to change this narrative as profitable opportunities abound in the sector.
Also, Nigeria recently declared a state of emergency on food insecurity to help tackle food shortages and boost agricultural productivity. This challenge presents an opportunity for Nigerians to key into the various value chains existing in the Agricultural sector to boost food security in the country.
The Business of Agriculture Masterclass 3.0 will be engaging key experts to discuss the practice and business of Agriculture in eight value chains including Crop Production (Vegetable Farming using Hydroponics and soil), Agro-Technology, Agro-Logistics and Market Linkages, Nutrition and Lifestyle, Animal Husbandry, Agro-Processing and Value Addition, Aquaculture and Agro-Financing. Interested Nigerians can register for the free Masterclass at bit.ly/BOAMasterclass2023.
As a commitment to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) targets, the former Vice President of Nigeria inaugurated the PSAG in February 2017 comprising primarily private sector organizations and corporate foundations. Nigeria became the first UN member to inaugurate a local PSAG, mirroring the UN SDG-Fund PSAG (PSAG Global) and other UN initiatives. The PSAG Nigeria works closely with the Office of the Senior Special Assistant to the President on SDGs (OSSAP-SDGs) and the UN to ensure that the Global goals are achieved in Nigeria.
The PSAG Nigeria exists to foster policy dialogue, applied research, private sector engagement, and strategic interventions at the policy, project, community and entrepreneurial levels. The PSAG is structured around 11 different clusters, mapped for the cross implementation and reporting of companies’ activities around the 17 Sustainable Development Goals under suggested standards. Each cluster owns, leads and drives dialogue and implementation efforts with respective cluster members that fall within the same group criteria by goals within the private sector and corporate foundations in Nigeria.
The PSAG Nigeria Cluster Five, the driver of The Business of Agriculture Masterclass, covers Agribusiness and the Manufacturing sector. It is focused on SDG 2 (Zero Hunger) and SDG 12 (Responsible Consumption and Production). It is anticipated that the live training sessions of the Masterclass will expose participants which would include practicing and potential Agribusiness entrepreneurs and investors to the numerous opportunities in Agriculture, and how they can tap into it and make for themselves additional streams of income, while also contributing to solving the problems of food insecurity and unemployment in Nigeria.
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