The Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, Senator Abubakar Kyari, has reaffirmed the Federal Government’s commitment to empowering young Nigerians in agriculture as the African Union (AU) and Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) launched the Youth in Agrifood Systems Performance Index (YAPI) in Abuja.
Kyari spoke at the launch, held on the sidelines of the 9th Africa Agriculture Science Week (9AASW) and the 10th General Assembly of the Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa (FARA), which brought together policymakers, researchers and development partners to discuss the future of Africa’s food systems.
The minister described YAPI as a score-based tool designed to provide a comprehensive assessment of youth employment and economic opportunities across Africa’s agrifood systems.
According to him, the index will enable Nigeria and other African countries to measure commitments against actual outcomes for young people in agriculture while ensuring that youth participation is adequately captured in data used to formulate policies.
He said the framework was developed through extensive consultations at continental, regional and national levels, with Nigeria, Kenya, Ghana and other countries serving as pilot nations.
Kyari added that AU member states had committed to taking ownership of YAPI and integrating the index into their national agricultural and youth employment strategies.
Speaking on Nigeria’s youth-focused agricultural policies, the minister said the administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, through the Renewed Hope Agenda, was implementing the National Agricultural Technology and Innovation Policy as a strategic framework for transforming agriculture into a technology-driven and youth-oriented sector.
He said the policy prioritises mechanisation, digital agriculture and the commercialisation of agricultural research and innovation.
Kyari also announced the revised National Youth Manifesto in Agriculture for 2025–2030, describing it as a roadmap developed and owned by young people.
The manifesto focuses on eight key priorities, including climate-resilient agriculture, access to land and seeds, youth-focused financing and market access, agricultural technology and research, capacity building, gender and social inclusion, policy advocacy, and mentorship.
On agricultural financing, Kyari said President Tinubu had approved the recapitalisation of the Bank of Agriculture to the tune of ₦1.5 trillion, which he described as a major boost to agricultural financing in Nigeria.
He said the funding would focus on supporting youth- and women-led agribusinesses through accessible credit and capacity-building initiatives.
The minister further disclosed that the Federal Government had activated the National Agricultural Development Fund to attract long-term financing into the sector, enabling young farmers to access loans of up to ₦1 billion to expand their businesses.
He also highlighted the Youth and Agribusiness Land Trust Fund, a ₦500 billion initiative designed to address one of the major barriers facing young people seeking to enter commercial agriculture: access to secure farmland.
According to Kyari, the initiative will transform 42 youth development centres managed by the Ministry of Youth Development into operational agribusiness hubs.
The programme is expected to train six million young Nigerians over the next three years and support the establishment of at least 500,000 youth-led agribusiness enterprises across the country.
He said young Nigerians between the ages of 18 and 35 in pilot states including Nasarawa, Oyo and Rivers would receive documented rights to allocated farmland within 90 days of application.
On mechanisation, Kyari announced the deployment of the first 2,000 tractors under a $140 million investment targeting more than 550,000 hectares of farmland and over 550,000 farming households.
He said the government plans to deploy 10,000 tractors over five years in partnership with state governments, while a national mechanisation policy is expected to be launched in mid-August.
The minister also disclosed that more than 5,248 young people had been engaged in agricultural ventures through the IFAD-supported Value Chain Development Programme, including seed production, equipment leasing and extension services.
He added that a partnership between the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) and IFAD had created more than 7,000 jobs through its Agribusiness Hub initiative.
Kyari said the launch of YAPI would provide Nigeria with a mechanism to measure, monitor and report on youth participation in agribusiness across the country.
He noted that the index would be incorporated into the biannual review process of the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP), with a focus on tracking youth access to land, finance, technology and markets, alongside employment, enterprise creation and participation in agriculture.
Also speaking, AGRA’s Country Programme Lead for Nigeria, Juliette Lampoh, assured young people of the organisation’s continued support to improve access to finance, strengthen resilience and create opportunities for success within the agrifood sector.
She said youth inclusion would remain a central part of AGRA’s work as YAPI moves from its launch phase to implementation.
The Head of the Rural Economy Division in the Department of Rural Economy and Agriculture at the African Union Commission, Dr. Janet Edeme, said young people account for about 70 per cent of Africa’s population, making their participation critical to the future of the continent’s food systems.
Edeme stressed the need for deliberate interventions to attract more young people into agribusiness and ensure their participation across the agricultural value chain, from production and processing to storage and marketing.
She said the African Union and its partners would work to ensure that insights generated through YAPI translate into practical action and investments capable of accelerating youth-led transformation of Africa’s agrifood systems.
The launch of YAPI comes amid growing efforts by African governments and continental institutions to position agriculture as a pathway to tackling youth unemployment and food insecurity.
By tracking youth access to critical resources such as land, finance, technology and markets, stakeholders believe the index could provide governments with better data to design policies that make agriculture a more attractive and viable career for Africa’s rapidly growing youth population.
