United States of America for International Development (USAID) says it has completed an agriculture technology trainings to boost skills and entrepreneurship in Osun State.
According to USAID, the five-day technology training focused on apiary, bee keeping and honey production organised for staff and students of Osun State Polytechnic, Iree.
Tope Abiola, the institution’s Media Relations Officer says the training was part of its efforts at improving the entrepreneurship skills of staff and students of the institution.
Participants were trained on modern technology of Bee Keeping and Honey Production which was described as a veritable venture that could be used to provide jobs for unemployed Nigerians, Abiola says.
The apiary workshop was organised by USAID and Winrock International, a Non-Governmental Organisation, as a stable of the farmer-to-farmer programme of the organisation to boost agricultural technology in Nigeria through training and workshops for officials of tertiary institutions and local farmers in the country.
Caleb O’Biren of USAID to Nigeria says the apiary farming and bee keeping technology training is a panacea to poverty, saying it is a veritable venture that could boost the nation’s economy.
O’biren, who is an apiary and bee keeping specialist, reckons that “apiary is a good venture that could be done in local communities with a little capital to produce honey in large quantity.”
While explaining the importance of honey and demand for it across the world, O’biren adds that “honey production is not capital intensive, its production can survive a country, because it is what is needed by all homes in a country.”
According to him, “it is a daily need that is used for treatment of certain ailments. It is also used to prevent certain deceases which could cause damage to some cells in our bodies”.
Explaining the need for the training, Dr. Jacob Olusola Agboola, Rector of the Polytechnic, who is the facilitator of the workshop, adds that it was part of the capacity building and skills acquisition programme developed by the institution.
He also said it is part of efforts of the Department of Agric Engineering and Bio-environmental Studies of the Polytechnic to train local farmers in the state on modern Agricultural technology and skills.
He adds that “apiary and bee keeping is a type of agriculture that we must encourage in our community to engage our teeming youths in the country who are unemployed, while employed individuals can also embark on it to boost their economic power.”
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