Exciting Agricultural Students through the Agricultural Quiz Competition and Enlightenment Programme

Currently, there are 7.3 billion people in the world (United Nations, 2015) who depend on agriculture for their basic needs- food, clothing and shelter. 7.3 billion people! What a huge opportunity! Everyone needs to eat! And farmers remain indispensable and vitally important to meet those needs.

Despite all that, today’s young people, who will determine how bright the future will be, are showing little interest in agriculture. Why is agriculture not attractive to them? Is it that they are not aware of the numerous opportunities in agriculture? What can we do to change their mindsets and inspire them to see agriculture as a viable career option?

Action Time: The birth of African Sustainable Agriculture Project (ASAP)

The African Sustainable Agriculture Project (ASAP) is an initiative set up with the mission to implement purposeful projects that focus on reviving the interest of young people in sustainable agriculture and enlightening smallholder farmers on practicing agriculture in a sustainable manner.

The vision of ASAP is to be an indispensable catalyst for sustainable agriculture and food security in Africa.

One of our approaches is the ‘Agricultural Quiz Competition and Enlightenment Programme’ for secondary school students.

Agricultural Quiz Competition and Enlightenment Programme.

On 4^th December, this year, we launched out on the first Agricultural Quiz Competition and Enlightenment Programme for secondary school students in Nigeria. The agricultural quiz competition, which was administered by Mr. Joseph Ajireloja (Co-director, ASAP), practically captured the attention of the students- as it was their first time of experiencing it- and motivated them to take part in the enlightenment programme. During the quiz session, the contestants chose from series of questions that cut across various agricultural topics (as well as agriculture-related current affairs).

Also, for the enlightenment programme, we enlightened the students on the following:

• Sustainable Agriculture: The innovative and modern method of practicing agriculture in a manner that is profitable, socially responsible and environmentally friendly.
• Vegetable Farming: The effective means of cultivating vegetable on a small scale, and how consuming vegetables helps to fight malnutrition by providing the essential vitamins and minerals that the body needs.
• Climate Change: The meaning of climate change, its causes and effects. We focused more on enlightening them on how fluctuation in temperature and rainfall results in drought and flooding which have significant effects on agriculture. On what action they can take, we enlightened them on the importance of irrigation when there is no rainfall, how avoiding dumping of refuse on drainage channels can prevent flooding, and how planting of trees can mitigate climate change.
• Agricultural Career Options: The significance of some of the areas of specialization in agriculture- Crop Production and Protection; Agricultural Extension; Agricultural Economics; Animal Sciences; Agricultural Engineering; Fishery and Aquaculture; Soil Science; Animal Biochemistry and Nutrition ; and Agroforestry.
• Global Goals: The seventeen Sustainable Development Goals and how agriculture provides opportunities to make significant contributions towards achieving them.

The questions and answers session gave the students the opportunity to ask questions. We were very pleased with the excitement of the students and the interesting questions asked by some of them. That clearly demonstrated the effectiveness of the project and the eagerness of the students to start applying what they have learned.

We awarded prizes to the winners (1^st, 2^nd and 3^rd Position) of the agricultural quiz competition at the end of the programme.

The Next Step: Our Sustainability Strategy.

In order to sustain the interest of the students in agriculture and get them continually involved, in the first quarter of 2016, we will launch out on our sustainability initiative tagged Young Farmers’ Forum (YFF) in secondary schools. This forum would create a platform for the students to inspire themselves and share their farming experiences. The forum would also enable us to easily disseminate information on improved farming techniques to them, train them on new agricultural innovations and provide effective solutions to their agricultural challenges.

Recommendations

The mindsets of young people towards agriculture can be positively changed if they are adequately enlightened on the various opportunities in agriculture. To achieve that, we all have pivotal roles to play! Everyone wants a bright and better future; let us start creating it now by taking appropriate action. If you have any creative idea on making agriculture attractive to young people, turn it into action and see how your contribution makes a difference.