ibironkeeniola 
Babban Gona, West Africa’s largest maize farm has reaffirmed its commitment to tackling rising youth unemployment in the country through agriculture.
Babban Gona business model addresses the rising youth unemployment in West Africa, by leveraging a unique technology platform to create jobs and make farming more profitable.
“One of the root causes of insecurity in Nigeria is the unemployment of youths, especially in the rural area,” said Kola Masha, managing director, Babban Gona
“We believe that the best way to disrupt this cycle of poverty and democratize wealth is to create equal opportunities for fulfilling work, particularly in the agricultural sector, for the demography that are at risk of being led astray,” Masha said.
He stated that it is mainly believed that youths do not find agriculture attractive which is not usually the case. He stressed that his organisation is changing the narrative by boosting farmers’ productivity and making farming attractive.
“We use technology to help members scale and increase their yields rapidly by providing the required training and education,” he said.
“Also, we provide them with access to cost-effective financing, high-quality agricultural inputs, as well as harvesting and marketing support services,” he added.
Masha noted that in 2020 alone, his organisation created over 82,000 jobs in the sector with more than 50 percent targeted at youths and a third for women.
Since the organisation commenced operation in Nigeria, Babban Gona has assisted over 110,000 smallholder farmers cumulatively cultivating over 225,000 acres of maize through its Agricultural Franchise Model.
Smallholders are often referred by existing members and can join Babban Gona after undergoing a testing and interview process.
The organisation’s members are committed to transitioning their farm operations into commercial enterprises.
In 2020, Babban Gona re-designed its flagship Women Economic Development Initiative (WEDI) with overwhelming success and scaled to supporting over 18,500 rural female entrepreneurs with over 85percent of them falling within the youth demography.
The WEDI programme trains female entrepreneurs, as well as providing them in-kind lending to set up entrepreneurial ventures.
Through its Women Economic Development Initiative (WEDI), BabbanGona goes a step further to support rural women in establishing businesses and overcoming existing social and cultural constraints concerning access to education and training, financing, and inputs.
Also, Babban Gona has made climate-smart agriculture a core of its business; its efforts are centered on climate change mitigation initiatives and building farmers’ resilience to climate change-related shocks.
SOURCE: BUSINESS DAY