The Kwara State Government, through the State Special Agro-Industrial Processing Zones (SAPZ) Project, has equipped 300 youths across the state with job creation and entrepreneurship skills at a five-day training held in Ilorin.
The training was designed to enhance the participants’ entrepreneurial and employability skills.
The five-day training, titled “Capacity Building for Youth on Job Creation and Entrepreneurship,” was conducted by D-Positive Global Image Services.
It brought together unemployed, underemployed and self-employed participants drawn from the catchment areas of the Kwara SAPZ Agricultural Transformation Centres (ATCs) in Ifelodun, Baruten, Asa and Kaiama Local Government Areas.
Speaking at the programme, the State Commissioner for Livestock Development and Chairperson of the Kwara SAPZ Technical Committee, Hon. Oloruntoyosi Thomas, said the training would expose the youths to “viable business and job opportunities within the livestock and agro-industrial value chains; strengthen their capacity in business development, financial management and enterprise sustainability; and encourage innovation and self-reliance rather than dependence solely on salaried employment.”
The Commissioner, who oversees the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, noted that the participants were expected to acquire improved knowledge, practical entrepreneurial skills and a better understanding of enterprise development.
Thomas said these would ultimately result in “new and strengthened youth-led enterprises, increased employment opportunities, improved livelihoods and greater participation of women, youths and persons with disabilities in the economic opportunities that will emerge from the SAPZ Project.”
The Commissioner thanked the Governor of Kwara State, Mallam AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq for his relentless commitment to youth empowerment, agricultural transformation and the successful implementation of the SAPZ Project.
According to her, the “intervention is particularly important because the success of SAPZ should not be measured only by the physical infrastructure, but the jobs, enterprises and sustainable livelihoods created for people, especially within host and catchment communities.”
Thomas urged the 300 participants to apply the knowledge acquired during the training to productive and sustainable ventures.
She added that the skills would help them improve productivity and maximise profit, urging them to “start now, start small and start at home.”
The State Commissioner for Finance, Dr. Hauwa Nuru, described the SAPZ initiative as a crucial demonstration of the Governor AbdulRazaq-led administration’s commitment to transforming agriculture from a subsistence enterprise into a modern and commercially viable sector capable of creating jobs, generating wealth and driving inclusive economic growth.
Nuru said, “For us in Kwara State, agriculture is not merely about food production. It is about building value chains, creating enterprises, developing skills and opening sustainable opportunities for young people.
“This capacity-building programme is therefore particularly important. Our young population represents one of our greatest assets, but that potential must be supported with the right knowledge, technical skills, entrepreneurial capacity and access to opportunities.”
She urged the youths to embrace the training opportunity with seriousness, discipline and determination, while charging them to be innovative and entrepreneurial and to create opportunities that would contribute to prosperity in society.
In his welcome remarks, the State Project Coordinator, Kwara State Special Agro-Industrial Processing Zones (SAPZ) Project, Dr. Busari Isiaka, explained that the intervention was timely for youths and women in and around the project’s ATC locations, noting that it would contribute significantly to addressing unemployment.
Isiaka said the success of SAPZ would translate into the creation of jobs, enterprises and sustainable livelihoods for beneficiaries.
He said the Kwara SAPZ Project prioritises the participation of youths and women in its implementation process to enhance economic sustainability.
Isiaka said the support provided to the participants would help grow the state’s economy and contribute to its industrial and agricultural transformation.
He described the Special Agro-Industrial Processing Zones Project as an important platform for connecting farmers to processing, processing to markets, and young people to emerging opportunities across the agricultural value chain.
