A Lagos based firm, Kairos Events and Entertainment on Wednesday, announced its first Agriculture reality television show in Nigeria.
Mrs. Ibinabo Dixon, Corporate Affairs Director said this in a statement made in Lagos.
Ibinabo said that the reality show themed “Face of Agric Nigeria (FOAN) 2020,” was a concept aimed at changing the narrative of youths in their lackluster attitude towards agriculture.
She said that FOAN Reality TV Show 2020 was an `Agritainment’ show that seeks to discover, showcase, harness and empower youth in the practice and business of Agriculture.
“FOAN is an agritainment project and the first of its kind. It is a strategic project to be used as a tool to attract the Nigerian youths into agriculture putting in view the interest of the youth in entertainment-related projects.
“The event targets Nigerian youths resident in the urban centers, aged 18-32, a total of 48 contestants are selected from the six geo-political zones in Nigeria.
“These 48 contestants would be housed in a boot camp for 90 days. Participants would be put through the technological know-how in various agricultural practices from the ground to the final consumer and hopefully, they will become proficient” she said.
Ibinabo said that FOAN 2020 would proselytise business and economic opportunities, both local and international, and would encouraged community development and cultural exchange amongst the participants.
She said that another objective of project FOAN was to support the government in achieving exceptional milestones in agriculture which would have a profound effect on the growth of the economy.
“The agricultural sector is one of the most important sectors in the economy of any Nation, it should provoke a tangible economic development.
“So many years ago agriculture was one of the primary drivers of the economy of this nation, the discovery of oil in the mid-fifties gradually pushed agriculture to the back burner, attention was shifted to crude oil as our number one source of revenue.
“Mono economy will not suffice in a country with a teeming population as Nigeria, it is, therefore, pertinent to shift from a single income source to multiple income sources. This is achievable by economic diversification.
“One of the central points of action in this economic diversification is to completely resuscitate the Agricultural sector, which in turn will address the issue of food insecurity and to a large extent address the issue of unemployment. This is the trajectory of the FOAN project” she said.
Ibinabo said that the firm was going to employ entertainment as a platform to attract an optimal number of Nigerian youths in the urban centers to engage in agricultural practices.
She said that the average Nigerian youths living in the urban areas believe that agricultural practices are meant for the rural dwellers, even those who studied agriculture-related courses in the higher institutions do not want to practice.
She said that FOAN was designed to change this mindset and It was not news that it has become increasingly difficult to feed the teeming population.
She said that it was imperative that we develop our agricultural sector, a feat that would be futile until the most potent human capital “The Youth” is actively involved.
“As the world battles the COVID-19 virus, it is only a matter of time before we realise that we have entered a new Era and an Agro-revolution will be required to stem the tides, ” she said.
