The Minister of Youth and Sports Development, Mr. Sunday Dare has called on Youth in the country to take advantage of the present climatic challenges to invest their skills and talents in agriculture with a view to empowering themselves in the sector so as to contribute meaningfully to the socio-economic development of Nigeria.
Mr Dare made the call on Saturday in Abuja at the occasion of the 2022 Environment Symposium.
Represented by his Special Assistant on Youth and ICT, Kemi Ann Areola, the Minister stated that the issues of climate change need to be addressed swiftly and seriously to forestall the dangers posed by it.
According to him, “the global phenomenon of climate change caused majorly by human activities are unbalancing the weather of the earth; the sustainability of its ecosystem, the future of mankind and the stability of the global economy”.
He added that Nigeria is not immune from the adverse effects of climate change, noting further that, “we are experiencing increases in temperature, variable rainfall, rise in sea level and flooding; drought and desertification; land degradation; more frequent extreme weather events which are affecting fresh water resources and leading to loss of biodiversity”.
The Minister explained that economic activities such as agriculture, fishery and forestry are also taking big hits in different locations in the country.
He reiterated the President Muhammadu Buhari-led Administration’s commitment to raising a new breed of trained technicians with the basic and advanced knowledge in renewable energy through the Green Stimulus programme as part of its Economic Sustainability Plan.
“The renewable energy focuses on solar energy development, management and implementation while the smart agriculture component is focused on improving agricultural yield and leveraging drone technology to improve agribusiness”, he said.
The Minister emphasised that Youth engagement in agriculture will not only help in addressing food insecurity but also reduction in unemployment, poverty as well as their involvement into various crimes and criminalities.
He, therefore, called on the youth to always take advantage of every available opportunity to positively improve their lives.
