AFDB, Brazil to train Nigerian youths, others on cassava processing

Nigerian youths will join contemporaries from 14 other Africa countries to receive training on cassava processing from the Brazil-Africa Institute (BAI) and the Africa Development Bank (AfDB) under the initiative Youth Technical Training Program (YTTP).
The trainees, who are between the ages of 18 and 35, will receive a two-month training on the production chain of cassava at the Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation (EMBRAPA) − a state-owned centre in Brazil.
According to AfDB, the programme will be sponsored under the South-South Cooperation Trust Fund (SSCTF) consisting of an array of professional development schemes to meet diverse needs of African countries by utilizing Brazil’s technology, skills and knowledge to boost Africa local capacity development.
The first batch of the YTTP training, which was flagged off at the AfDB headquarters in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire; targets 30 young African professionals in the cassava value-chain.
At the lunched of the programme, Chiji Ojukwu, the bank’s director of agriculture and agro-Industries, explained that the first batch of cassava processing trainees would be for two months.
“The development of the cassava training programme is one of the many programmes of ENABLE (Empowering Novel Agri-Business-Led Employment) Youth Program of the AfDB. There will be more of such programmes to be developed with the Brazil Africa Institute,” Ojukwu said.
João Bosco Monte, president of the Brazil Africa Institute, was optimistic that the trainees would go back to their different countries with sound cassava production and processing training and skills at the end of the two months training.
Bosco Monte said the dream of his Institute was to work with AfDB to increase the number of participants for the cassava processing training to at least 300 in the coming years.
“This is just the beginning,” he assured.
Nteranya Sangina, director-general of the International Institute for Tropical Agriculture (IITA), urged the trainees to tap into the expertise available in Brazil and prepare to contribute to making cassava a crop for food security in Africa.
He recalled how, as Nigeria’s Minister, AfDB President Akinwumi Adesina moved aggressively on import substitution with the use of cassava flour for composite flours in bread-making and confectionery industries.
In their speeches, Bright Okogu, the AfDB executive director for Nigeria and São Tomé and Príncipe; and Hiromi Ozawa, executive director for Brazil, Argentina, Austria, Japan and Saudi Arabia, highlighted the potential impact of the project on the relationship between Africa and Brazil.
“We are eager to have you come back to practice and teach your generation what you have learned. Financial and technical assistance will certainly come at some point. Things are not what they used to be,” Okogu told the participants.
Viviane Kacou of Côte d’Ivoire and Oyesiji Funmilayo of Nigeria, two of the trainees, stressed how they would use the opportunity of the training to enhance their capacities and become role models for other youths in their respective countries.

David Ibemere