Dangote Rice Limited has launched the Youth Farming Initiative, which is an aimed leading market sale with one million tons of Dangote Rice in 2018.
The Group Executive Director, Mr. Devakumar Edwin, said the initiative was aimed at ensuring food security and creating job opportunities in Nigeria, especially for the Youths.
“By the time we will be doing one million metric tons of rice next year, no less than three million jobs would been created along the value chain”.
The Youth Farming Initiative was flagged off at the Lower Niger River Basin Authority, Yagba West Local Government Area of Kogi State, where Youths have embarked on rice cultivation of over 100 hectares of land.
Under the initiative, a special training for the youth farmers on the dynamics of rice farming was done, thereafter, Dangote Rice Company provided the seedling, pesticidal chemicals, and fertilizers while the Basin Authority will provide land for the young farmers.
“We believe skill, knowledge, enabling environment, collaboration and linkages along the value chain are driving forces for economic empowerment and social development in line with the Federal Government policies”.
He maintained that the initiative was in line with the vision and commitment of Dangote Industries Limited to create a generation of agri-preneur that will revolutionise the Nigerian agricultural sector.
“It will also enhance domestic rice production to cover the large gap between demand and domestic production and to increase self-sufficiency of Nigeria and substitute imported rice by quality Nigerian rice brands”.
Managing Director, Dangote Rice, Mr. Robert Coleman, advised the youth farmers to focus on the scheme and pay attention to details so that they would come out with good paddy yield.