The National Directorate of Employment has emphasised the need for farmers and unemployed youths in the country to train in food crop preservation and packaging in order to guide against wastage and guarantee food sufficiency.
The Director, Rural Employment Promotion, NDE, Chief Kunle Obayan, stated this in Ado Ekiti at the end of a three-day post-harvest agriculture service training programme organised for farmers and unemployed youths in Ekiti State.
The NDE chief, who was represented an official of the agency, Mrs. Tola Adeyanju, said the training was aimed at guiding against wastage of farm produce during harvesting, adding, “We should not allow the farm produce to be wasted. That is why we are training the beneficiaries.
“Some farmers don’t have the idea of how to preserve their crops from going bad. That is why we are training them to know what they can do to reduce wastage. Knowledge is power and without it you don’t have anything. Government should also encourage farmers with loans.
“Lot of farm produce rot away in the farms just because the farmers don’t know how to process and package them.