The federal government has announced reforms to modernise agricultural education as part of efforts to strengthen food security and create employment opportunities for young Nigerians.

This was disclosed in a statement on Sunday. It said the initiative, jointly driven by the federal agriculture ministry, aimed to update agricultural curricula and attract greater youth participation.

Education minister Tunji Alausa, during the official presentation of the new Agricultural Curriculum Framework reform, said that the reform was a pivotal step toward repositioning agriculture as a pillar of national development.

Mr Alausa explained that the initiative aligned academic training with President Bola Tinubu’s vision for a technology-driven agricultural sector.

He expressed concern over the declining enrollment in agricultural programmes across tertiary institutions in spite of significant government investment in the sector.

“Statistics from the 2024 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination revealed that 47.92 per cent of admission slots allocated to agricultural courses remain unfilled. Agriculture is a major national priority, but enrollment in agricultural courses in higher institutions is dropping.

“In the last three years, there have been thousands of open slots, but only a fraction has been taken. This is a serious gap, especially in an area that should ensure food security for Nigeria and make the country an export hub for agricultural products,” he said.

However, Mr Alausa noted that vocational and technical agricultural training had seen increased interest among young Nigerians.

“Out of more than 900,000 Technical and Vocational Education and Training applications recently received, more than 210,000 were for livestock farming alone. Agriculture overall ranked close to garment making, which recorded more than 260,000 applicants.

“This shows that young Nigerians are eager to gain practical agricultural skills, but the outdated tertiary curriculum has not kept pace with modern realities,” he added.

The minister reaffirmed the government’s commitment to updating the curriculum to meet industry needs and support economic diversification.

He cited the Republic of Benin’s cotton processing success as a model for Nigeria’s efforts to link education with industrial value chains.

“Benin moved from earning 500 million dollars in raw cotton exports to 12 billion dollars in processed products, employing more than 25,000 young people. Nigeria will replicate this success through curriculum reform and practical agricultural education that supports our production zones and export diversification goals,” Mr Alausa said.

Deputy agriculture minister Aliyu Abdullahi restated that achieving food sovereignty required a comprehensive review of agricultural education.

“As Nigeria seeks to diversify, we need more people engaged in agricultural enterprise. Food security cannot be achieved without aligning our education and training systems with national priorities. “Our curriculum must equip graduates not just with theoretical knowledge but with practical skills and innovation to drive agricultural transformation,” Mr Abdullahi said.

(NAN)