Horticultural training for unemployed youths and women was embarked upon to reduce unemployment and contribute to the attainment of food sufficiency in the country. Horticulture is a key and promising sector for diversification of the nation’s economy. The training covered preliminary aspects of the commodity value chains comprising improved propagation practices, nursery management and orchard establishment/management. The training curriculum also includes economics of production of the crops of focus- plantain/banana and citrus.

The training was held at Institute’s Auditorium of the National Horticultural Research Institute, Ibadan, Headquarter Office, Jericho Reservation Area, Ibadan. Participants appreciated the federal government for enabling the institute to conduct training on plantain/banana and citrus which are highly profitable crops. They opined immediate commencement 0f skills learnt which would also be taught to others in their communities. Fifty participants comprising of 19 females and 31 males were trained. Knowledge and skill of the participants on the aspects of the commodity chains taught was enhanced after the training. This was attested to by the participants and corroborated by the result of the pre and post knowledge assessment conducted which showed a significant increase in knowledge of the participants after the training.