Agrisiti Nigeria, working with Tagdev 2.0 and the University of Port Harcourt, has launched a free 12-week Agribusiness and Climate-Smart Skills Programme targeting 3,500 young Nigerians across seven states, in a move aimed at boosting youth participation in agriculture and strengthening food value chains.
In a statement issued on Thursday, Agrisiti said the programme is supported by the Regional Universities Forum for Capacity Building in Agriculture in partnership with the Mastercard Foundation. It is open to youths aged 18 to 35 in Ogun, Enugu, Cross River, Rivers, Bayelsa, Kano and Niger states, with a focus on out-of-school youths and learners within the technical and vocational education and training space.
The programme will run simultaneously across all participating states, combining mobile-first digital learning with physical, hands-on training. Participants will access coursework through Telegram and the Agrisiti Digital Learning Platform, alongside practical sessions at designated demonstration hubs in each state.
According to Agrisiti, the training is designed to deliver practical, job-ready skills in modern agribusiness, with specific attention to rice and aquaculture value chains. Beyond technical training, participants will receive mentorship from industry experts, access to startup and professional networks, career readiness support including internship pathways, and a digital certificate upon completion.
When commenting on the initiative, Agrisiti said the programme is intended to address long-standing barriers that have limited youth engagement in Nigeria’s agricultural sector. The organisation noted that while rice and aquaculture present significant opportunities for employment and enterprise creation, many young people lack the practical skills, mentorship and market access required to participate effectively.
“This programme equips young people with climate-smart, hands-on skills that can help them build sustainable agribusinesses or secure career opportunities across these value chains,” the company said.
The intervention comes against the backdrop of persistent food security challenges. Agriculture contributes an estimated 15.4 per cent to Africa’s Gross Domestic Product, yet Nigeria continues to struggle with hunger and malnutrition. Globally, about 828 million people were undernourished in 2021, while more than 3.1 billion people could not afford a healthy diet, underscoring the urgency of building resilient and inclusive food systems.
Agrisiti added that despite the sector’s economic potential, research shows that many African youths are increasingly disengaging from agriculture, often due to limited access to skills, financing and viable career pathways. The Agrisiti–UNIPORT initiative, it said, is designed to reverse this trend by strengthening entrepreneurship and employment opportunities in rice and aquaculture, promoting climate-smart and inclusive agribusiness practices, and improving youth employability through mentorship, incubation and networking.
Agrisiti Nigeria is a digital agritech company that delivers integrated urban farming solutions, education and hardware designed to support sustainable food production for both livelihoods and subsistence. The company develops compact, high-yield systems such as aquaponics, hydroponics and recirculating aquaculture systems suited to urban environments. Through AI-powered, mobile-first learning platforms and hands-on training, Agrisiti works with young people and smallholder farmers to build agribusiness, climate-smart and employability skills, contributing to the growth of a new generation of tech-enabled farmers across Africa.
