STEP initiative to reduce number of out-of-school children in Oyo State
The Start Them Early Program (STEP) can help the Oyo State government reduce the number of out-of-school children in the State. The Coordinator of IITA’s STEP initiative, Adedayo Adefioye, made this assertion on 23 July 2020, during the official launch of the program and the modern agribusiness training facilities at Fasola Grammar School in Oyo West Local Government Area.
To promote an early interest in agriculture, IITA is introducing agribusiness training in secondary schools through STEP. Fasola Grammar School is one of three beneficiary schools selected in southwestern Nigeria. Established in 2018, STEP aims to challenge the mindsets of young Africans about agriculture and expose them to viable opportunities in agribusiness from an early age.
In his opening remarks on behalf of IITA, TAAT Program Coordinator Chrys Akem, spoke about the vision of the IITA Director General Nteranya Sanginga to see the students of Fasola emerge to become millionaires as they embrace agriculture as a business. Speaking on behalf of the IITA Deputy Director General, Partnerships for Delivery, Kenton Dashiell, Akem also highlighted the recently launched Agribusiness Education Program of the Oyo State government. “These two programs, STEP and the youth-in-agribusiness training center, when expanded all over Oyo State, would stimulate the agricultural transformation of the state and create jobs for thousands of youth,” Akem said.
