The Women in Agricultural Technical Education and Apprenticeships (WATEA) project has officially concluded after two impactful years of empowering youths in Oyo State through agricultural training and technical education.
The initiative, jointly sponsored by the French Government, the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), and the Oyo State Government, trained over 1,000 students from Ladoke Akintola University of Technology (LAUTECH) and the Oyo State College of Agriculture and Technology (OYSCATECH). The beneficiaries comprised 80% female and 20% male youths, reflecting the programme’s deliberate focus on women empowerment in the agriculture sector.
In a bid to round off the project, the Project Lead, Dr. Sonia Darracq, alongside the Director-General of the Oyo State Agribusiness Development Agency (OYSADA), Dr. Debo Akande, paid a courtesy visit to key stakeholders in the Oke-Ogun Zone, home to one of the participating institutions.
The programme provided comprehensive training through the Agricultural Technical and Vocational Education and Training (ATVET) platform, combining classroom learning with practical, hands-on experience. In addition, institutional heads, including rectors and department leaders, were sponsored on international study tours aimed at enhancing their capacity for agricultural education leadership.
To ensure sustainability and integration into the local economy, the Oyo State Government has announced plans to absorb the trained youths into enterprise development initiatives under the Youth Entrepreneurship in Agribusiness Project – Sustainable Actions for Economic Recovery (YEAP-SAfER) loan scheme.
The WATEA project marks a significant step toward strengthening agribusiness skills, youth empowerment, and female participation in agriculture, aligning with broader efforts to revamp agricultural education and rural development in Nigeria.
