10 Reasons why Young Nigerians are returning to the Farms

I think agriculture has enormous potential for eradicating poverty, it needs youthful energy and passionate team players.
It is on record that Nigeria has over 84 million hectares of arable land, out of which only 40% is cultivated. Estimated at over 180 million people, it is also emerging as Africa’s largest agricultural market.
Supported by nature, the country’s crops that could earn huge foreign exchange include beans, yams, sesame, cashew nuts, cassava, cocoa beans, groundnuts, gum arabic, kolanut, maize , banana, melon, millet, palm kernels, palm oil, plantains, rice, rubber, sorghum, soybeans and yams. These have potentials of commercial quantities.
These days rather than hustle to get white collar jobs, a large number of youths yearn to be their own bosses, building their own business from the ground up.
This entrepreneurial tendency has led many of them to look into farming and other branches of Agriculture. There are quite a lot of examples of this. What are the reasons behind this shift, after consideration and speaking to a lot of this young ones, we came up with this awesome list:

1. Better income
Looking at the state of the economy, any legitimate means of a better income should be seized with both  hands, and this is obviously what these young ones are doing.
In farming weather crop or animal production, there are opportunities of better income than slaving away at a white collar job that does not pay enough to take care of their personal needs.

2. Job/Food security
A common fear that comes with most jobs  is the obvious lack of security, especially in a country where you could be sacked at any time, without any other reason but recession.
Many youths have decided instead to go into farming so they can have their future in their own hands and not constantly have to dread the day the sack could come. With farming there is a better guarantee of food on your table since you produce a percentage of what you eat.

3. Personal freedom
For some, it is the need to be their own boss, to know that even if they are working late into the night or own weekends it is for something personal.
Many youths need that sense of freedom and independence that come with running your own business and they find it most times on the farm.

4. Loan opportunities
Many banks and corporate bodies no longer turn their noses up at the sound of agricultural loans like in the past. This windfall of available loan opportunities for farming, has made farming and other agricultural practices more attractive to the young and coming up.

5. Availability of grants
Several programmes to aid farming by giving grants now exist. The Youth Initiative for Sustainable Agriculture (YISA), the African Development Bank loans and other programs like 'Youwin' have made it easier to access loans for startup.
These are avenues being explored by young Nigerians to get a steady flow of income from farming.

6. Stress of the Urban life
There was a time when it was all about moving to the city, with its lights and glitz. Now many are tired of the fast pace required to keep up with life in cities and Urban centers.
Besides the stress of urban life and the increased pressure to meet up with the sophisticated lifestyles have contributed to the reduction of life expectancy and sharp decline in fertility rate respectively.
Moving back to rural areas might not be possible for all, but they can live a slower life if they return to farmlands even within city. This is precisely what most are doing?

7. Family Obligations
Rivalry over ownership of land is still very much a problem in villages and rural communities. Many young ones have decided to relocate to the village and take up farming in a bid to keep their ancestral lands in the family.
Many also decide to relocate to the village to take care of old parents, while there they discover that farming is quite profitable and dive in to it headfirst.

8. Health
For many young ones, it is the fear of cancer-causing processed and canned food, that drive them to farming. Many people now appreciate food, fruits and vegetables that are fresh from the farm, creating a higher demand for famers and their resulting produce.
It equally affords one the opportunity of monitoring the quality of food they eat since you produce or grow a percentage of what you eat, this is one recipe to a longer life.

9. Land Use Act
The Land Use Act in most African countries is aimed at encouraging young ones to move to the farm and use land available in their community to provide, both for themselves and their families. The laws on land seem to encourage these young ones to take up agriculture.

10. Trend
Since the dawn of time, it has always fallen on the shoulders of the young ones to pass on the torch of the latest trends. Gone are the days when farming was considered menial labor.
These days getting your hands dirty is considered the new cool, this explains why many young ones, eagerly take pictures with their tractors, looking like lords of the land.

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