The Katsina State Government will link the 73 unemployed graduates who did not benefit from the N24 million National Fadama III programme to financial institutions who will offer them suitable loan packages
Alhaji Mannir Yakubu, the State Deputy Governor, gave the assurance during the closing ceremony of the two weeks training for the selected unemployed graduates by the National Fadama (III) Programme on Saturday in Katsina.
To the 200 successful beneficiaries, Yakubu, who was represented by Alhaji Idris Tune, the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Agriculture, advised them to make judicious use of the funds.
The National Fadama III Additional Financing programme has trained 293 unemployed graduates in the state in different agricultural enterprises.
The various enterprises includes crop production, poultry production, livestock production, fish production and Agro-business.
“For the 73 unemployed graduates that are not selected for the provision of grant by the National Fadama III programme, the state government will link them with financial institutions to offer them suitable loan package,’’ he said.
“I wish to draw the attention of the beneficiaries that will scale through the final selection of the National Fadama to make use of the golden opportunity to utilise the funds and resources given to them judiciously .
“The beneficiaries should strive to produce the commodities under their respective enterprises and should train other unemployed graduates in their farms as employees,” he said.
He said that the Federal and State governments had designed policies and programmes aimed at addressing unemployment of graduates in the country.
Earlier in his remarks, the Fadama III National Communication Officer, Mr Bashir Safana, called on the state government to come to the aid of those who were not selected for the provision of soft loan.
Safana said that Katsina State Government stands to benefit immensely from the training given to the 273 unemployed graduates.
Also, the Managing Director of the Katsina Agricultural and Rural Development Agency, Alhaji Ibrahim Musawa, said that the agency would forward a request to the state government to provide employment to those that did not get the grant.
“The state government will employ them as extension workers, the state is badly in need of extension workers.
“The state is facing shortage of extension workers as one extension worker now provide his service to over 1000 person which is wrong “he said.
NAN reports that the National Fadama Programme had designed the graduate unemployed training scheme with the aim of providing entrepreneurial training skills to beneficiaries with the aim of getting jobs for them. (NAN)