Youth capacity building: Jokolu Community, Nigeria

CAPACITY BUILDING FOR YOUNG PEOPLE ON SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURAL PRACTICES/ RESILIENCE BUILDING FOR ENHANCED LIVELIHOOD TO MITIGATE CLIMATE CHANGE FOR WOMEN AND YOUTH OF JOKOLU COMMUNITY, MORO LGA, KWARA STATE, NIGERIA.

Written by: Tosin Victoria Apiriola, Women and Youth Development Initiative-WOYODEV, Nigeria

 

Between 2017 and 2018, WOYODEV worked with young people at the grassroots in Kwara State North Central, Nigeria, with the support from the Global Water Partnership, Water Youth Network and GNDR. The project focused on understanding local threats and risk reduction capabilities of communities to better inform policy, mitigation and contingency planning at the grassroots in North Central Nigeria. It is estimated to have reached up to 1,000 young people directly and over 10,000 young people indirectly.

Part of the program sensitized women, young people and other community members on sustainable agricultural practices to mitigate climate change while promoting community based adaptation and resilience.

During the outreach in Jokolu Community, the facilitator who was engaged in one community sessions gave various insights into the effects of climate change in the world, how it affects the agricultural sector and how it has reduced agricultural productivity, which eventually leads to reduced quality and quantity of food produce available for man’s consumption. She spoke about the food chain and how human activities tend to affect it. Furthermore, she emphasized the benefits of using organic fertilizers instead of inorganic fertilizers for farming. Her power point presentation also covered Agro-economy techniques.

Access to portable water and DRR flood mitigation is an issue for rural dwellers of Arobadi community in Kwara State, North Central, Nigeria. Overall, WOYODEV project also trained young people on how they can better engage policy makers and their representatives on the daily hazards facing communities especially the vulnerable ones: women, youth, children and people living with disabilities.

The project desired to help improve the hardship faced by communities through information and knowledge/skills transfer and engaging young people as agents of change. Young people have proven to be strong voices in bringing about desired change in any given setting. This initiative has now engaged youth, built their capacity and their ability to use their voice to better their communities now and in the future.

Overall the project experienced some challenges, including;

  • Lack of funding to reach more young people
  • Lack of resources to support project implementation
  • Difficult terrain to reach remote communities.

The project recommends that going forward;

  • Young people’s projects should be showcased to attract funding support. See Water Youth Networks YouKnow platform which highlights youth projects here.
  • Further capacity building of youth-led organization is required to support young peoples’ ideas and project implementation skills. See Youth for Water and Climate Initiative which can offer support