The Delta State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB) has launched the Young Farmers Club to encourage pupils and students across the state to take interest in agriculture as a means of achieving food security.
The initiative was formally inaugurated on Friday at Ophromo Farms, Evwreni in Ughelli North Local Government Area.
Representatives of selected primary and junior secondary schools, along with their agricultural science teachers, participated in the event.
Executive Chairman of SUBEB, Samuel Mariere, said the programme was designed to “catch them young” by stimulating children’s interest in farming early.
He noted that Nigeria has the natural resources required for all-year farming and should not be grappling with hunger.
Mariere urged students to embrace agriculture not only to provide food for their families but also as a viable means of livelihood, pointing out that some of the world’s wealthiest individuals are farmers.
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He reaffirmed the support of Governor Sheriff Oborevwori’s administration for agricultural development and called for collaboration from stakeholders.
Resource persons at the event, Dr. Adeniyi Babalola of Dennis Osadebay University, Asaba, and Mrs. Mary Ononuju, Deputy Director in the Ministry of Agriculture and Natural Resources, encouraged the participants to approach farming with seriousness, highlighting its challenges and rewards.
The children and their teachers were later taken on a tour of the integrated farm settlement, where they observed operations in poultry, fishery, cassava and plantain cultivation, vegetable farming, and animal husbandry.
Officials of the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC), education secretaries from the 25 local government areas, school heads, and SUBEB top officials were in attendance.
