Training on ILO’s SIYB to Boost Agri-business in Kaduna State: Food Africa Project

ABUJA (ILO News): The International Labour Organization as part of the public private partnership consortium implementing the Food Africa Project in Kaduna State, Nigeria is focused on expanding employment/livelihood opportunities, promoting rural entrepreneurship and decent working conditions in the target community- Jere. The ILO is delivering the business development activities for the project using the ILO Start and Improve Your Business (SIYB) programme to train potential/existing entrepreneurs and support the establishment of agri-businesses. The entrepreneurs’ training workshop which targets 50 participants from Jere and surrounding communities in Kaduna State is being held over a period of two weeks from January 21- February 1st 2019; it will also serve to certify 6 SIYB trainers from the community.

As part of the SIYB programme being delivered by the ILO, a training of trainers (ToT) workshop was facilitated in October 2018 to train potential SIYB community facilitators/trainers. The main objective of the intervention was to prepare the selected 14 potential trainers for certification by providing them with the capacity to use the SIYB standardized entrepreneurship curriculum that will enable them transfer skills to farmer entrepreneurs to expand their livelihood opportunities. The ToT workshop also served as part of the institutional support for Jere community based organizations and cooperatives. Following the ToT workshop, the trainers who completed the ToT successfully, as part of their certification process, are facilitating the ongoing SIYB entrepreneurs training with support and supervision from certified ILO SIYB master trainers.

Addressing the trainees and trainers, at the first day of the workshop, the ILO Country Office Director, Mr Dennis Zulu, explained the importance of the SIYB programme as one of ILO’s Training Packages used to empower women and men to start their businesses while existing Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) use it to improve their businesses so that they could become creators of decent jobs. He stated that the training program would serve to improve Agri-business of the Jere farmers and provide additional skills to participants to enable them expand their livelihood opportunities, as well as serve as an important aspect of the facilitators obtaining their certification as SIYB trainers.

It is expected that upon completion of the ongoing training of entrepreneurs’ workshop, all 6 potential trainers from Jere, Kaduna State will be certified as ILO SIYB trainers who will continue to provide business development support services to the community.