No fewer than one thousand three hundred and fifty (1350) youths in Cross River, South-South Nigeria has been recruited by the Federal Government under the N-power program.
The recruits are to serve as agricultural extension workers in Cross River.
Making the disclosure, the State Coordinator of Sasakawa Global 2000, Mr Ekok Ntua, in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), shortly after inspecting a cassava demonstration farm at Okonde in Ikom Local Government Area of the state, said the youth, recruited under the N-agro component of the N-power scheme, had been trained on extension services to complement the 94 existing extension workers working under the state’s Agricultural Development Project (ADP).
In his words, “You know, according to the World Bank, the ration should be one extension worker to between 800 and 1,000 farmers.
But here, the ration is one extension worker to 4,000 farmers."
He noted that the said recruitment of the N-agro agents had greatly supported farmers in the state by providing them the necessary farming techniques for improved productivity.
Earlier, the SG 2000 Country Director, Prof. Sani Ahmed-Miko, advised cassava farmers in the area to embrace the technology under the Africa Cassava Agronomy Initiative project.