The “Innovative Youth in Agriculture” (I-Youth) project has officially concluded its first phase, leaving behind a blueprint for how to solve youth unemployment through the agrifood system. Since its launch in 2020, the partnership between the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) and the Mastercard Foundation has moved beyond traditional farming, generating over 90,000 jobs and entrepreneurship opportunities across five Nigerian states.
1. Building Empires, Not Just Farms
The project’s success lies in its rejection of the “subsistence” narrative. Instead of just giving young people tools, I-Youth provided them with an ecosystem.
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Business Births: The initiative led to the establishment of 36,053 youth-led agribusinesses.
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Infrastructure for Growth: The creation of agribusiness parks, innovation hubs, and cooperative clusters in Kano, Kaduna, Lagos, Jigawa, and Adamawa has provided the structural support needed for these businesses to survive their first three years.
2. The “STEP” Into the Future
One of the most praised components of the project was the Start Them Early Program (STEP). By targeting secondary school students, the programme successfully:
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Established over 5,900 homegrown agribusiness ventures led by students and their families.
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Rebranded agriculture as a high-tech, dignified career path for Gen Z, moving away from the “hoe and cutlass” stereotype.
3. Inclusivity as a Metric of Success
I-Youth deliberately focused on women and persons with disabilities (PWDs).
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Overcoming Barriers: Participants like Mariam Abass from Kaduna shared how the project helped them shatter gender barriers to rebuild poultry businesses.
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Dignified Work: For the Mastercard Foundation, this aligns with their “Young Africa Works” strategy, which aims to enable 10 million Nigerians to access fulfilling work by 2030.
4. A West African Blueprint
The lessons learned from Nigeria are now being exported. The I-Youth model is currently informing similar youth-centric agricultural initiatives in Sierra Leone and Liberia, positioning Nigeria as a regional leader in agricultural vocational training and youth empowerment.
The 2026 Mandate
As Phase I closes, the conversation has shifted toward post-training support. Panel discussions at the closeout ceremony emphasized that for these 90,000 opportunities to become a permanent 200,000, the focus must now turn to:
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Access to Finance: Moving youth from grants to commercial bankability.
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Market Linkages: Connecting rural youth-led clusters directly to urban and international off-takers.
