Graduate in Agribusiness
Horticulture Project
The Youth-in-Agribusiness Incubator programme is one of our major interventions designed to achieve our core objective of providing entrepreneurial and vocational opportunities in Ghana. The YiA is an agri-business incubation scheme that focuses on identifying young unemployed persons, particularly women and recent graduates, who are susceptible to illegal migration; and supporting these persons to establish and grow agribusiness enterprises.
What is GIA Horticulture Project?
The Graduates-in-Agribusiness Horticulture Module (GiA) involves expansion of the YiA programme to include development of agri-business enterprises by beneficiaries of the project in the horticulture sub-sector. The scheme has featured micro-enterprise incubation based on 2-acre lots dedicated to the cultivation of a variety of vegetables and fruits. The farm units are made up of organic vegetable gardens cultivated using innovative farming methods and also involve modern greenhouse practices.
The GiA took the form of a reality TV show broadcasted on Akuafo TV, on YouTube and other social media handles of AP OAK and partners. Through this, we have been able to groom educated farmers who will serve as role models for their peers and demonstrate viability of agriculture as a sustainable avenue of self-employment.
Why GIA Horticulture Project?
The main objective of the Graduate-In-Agribusiness Incubator project (GiA) – Horticulture Module is to demonstrate the economic and employment potential of the horticulture value chain to young persons, particularly students and graduates from the nation’s tertiary institutions. Furthermore, it is intended to educate young persons of the opportunities along the horticulture value chain and provide practical example of how these opportunities could be leveraged to address the challenges of youth and graduate unemployment and their associated socio-economic problems
How will the GiA benefit the Youth?
The programme provides the opportunity to showcase modern practices in vegetable and fruit farming, for instance greenhouse and hydroponic farming systems. OAK and AgriBizz TV will also deploy the use of drones for fertilizer application on the farms.
The focus on and engagement of university students and graduates through modern communication platforms to educate and advocate is a novel approach to addressing the challenges of unemployment. It is a requirement that the business teams that would be formed and compete for the OAK incubation services should have participation of and be led by young women.
Furthermore, the programmes take a total value-chain incubation model: which is the farm-to-fork approach to address the challenges of unemployment.
Are you interested in partnering with AP OAK or participating in this programme, please contact us.
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