In May 2022, a first-of-its-kind agro project will be taking off in Jos to transform agriculture in innovative ways. The Jos Agro Factory Lab is an initiative of an Italian NGO Time for Africa and the Italian-run Nigerian NGO Kinabuti Initiative. The project is set to empower women and youth farmers with entrepreneurial skills in agribusiness that will connect them to a viable supply chain.

The directors of Kinabuti Initiative Caterina Bortulussi and Francesca Rosset consider Jos as a second home having first visited in 2018 to bring the Dare2Dream Project. They returned in 2019 and 2020 with Dare2Dream Season 6 and the Jos Skills Lab respectively.

“It is easy to do a lot of good in Jos because every time we come here, we find people are enthusiastic, intelligent, and easy to work with.”

Executive Director Francesca Rosset

The agro project takes off with a one-day general workshop to be held on the 16th of May 2020 at 10 am at the Sarau Event Centre Jos.

The workshop will inform the attendees about Good Agricultural Practices, innovative methods in small-scale farming, and simple processing to promote entrepreneurship and employability, through skills development and sustainable value chain fixing.

Pyemwa Deshi, the Project Manager said the one-day workshop will spotlight how agribusiness is a viable, lucrative, and fun venture for young people.

“This is why we are tagging the event as  #JosMadAboutAgriculture!”

The speakers at the workshop include Valentine Travih, an agro consultant at Green Sahara Farms, Dr. Kyenpiya Deshi, a lecturer at the University of Jos and the co-founder of Ritdun Farms and Prashant Ganapathy, an Indian agro-preneur who has also just pivoted from a career in oil and gas into agriculture.

In partnership with Green Sahara Farms, Ritdun Farms, House of Purpose Africa, Teekay Tronics, Creare Insights, and King Preston Consulting, the 18-month intensive project will start from March 2022 to September 2023.

25 participants shall be trained in every cycle and will receive hands-on instruction on agro-processing, business development, and digital/ICT skills. They will be assessed on the business plans they create and future ambitions. The project intends to create 8 entities and intends to incubate and co-fund the emerging start-ups.

To learn more about the project, sign up or refer someone to the information, please click here