1. PROJECT NAME: BACK TO THE
FARM
TEAM NAME : TEAM HOPE
COUNTRY: NIGERIA
SCHOOL: COVENANT
UNIVERSITY

2. INTRODUCTION
• A recent recruitment exercise in Nigeria for heavy truck drivers
received 13,000 applications, six(6) were PhD holders, 704
were Masters Holders, while 8,460 were Bachelor degree
holders(CKN NIGERIA, 2012).
• This, out of numerous recruitment exercises in Nigeria not only
shows the unemployment situation but also the desperation of
the youths to move out of the statistics of those living below
one dollar per day

3. The issue of unemployment in The level of unemployment in
Nigeria has resulted from issues Nigeria has left our youths turning
such as to the various vices such as
• neglect of the agricultural sector • militancy
• political instability • prostitution
• corruption • kidnapping
• decades of poor leadership • political thugs
• population growth • road side beggars
• Rural-Urban migration • internet scammers
• Lack of vibrant manufacturing • terrorist groups
sector • drug trafficking
• and Poor academic curriculum. • and every other means to
provide for their survival.

4. Age Distribution of Geographical Distribution of
unemployed Unemployed youths
9%
43% Urban
39% 15-24
25-44 Rural
57%
45-59
52%
Educational Distribution of Unemployed
youths
Primary School
25% leaver
35% Secondary School
Leaver
Post-Secondary
40%
School leaver
Source: National statistics bureau, 2011

5. ENVISIONING THE SOLUTION
Unemployment in Nigeria is as a result of various undeveloped
sectors of the economy, therefore an agricultural perspective
will go a long way in tackling the challenge, this is due to the fact
that it possesses high growth potential and requires very little
technical expertise.
One major crop identified to have created employment
opportunities in the past and still has the potential, if it can be
revived is Cotton

6. • As development spreads across the globe, and many more
people enter the middle class, the demand for textile products
will keep increasing and hence an increase in the demand for
raw cotton. Nigeria has the potential of producing enough
cotton to significantly impact the nation’s economy.
• Developing a vibrant cotton production system will have a
ripple effect on the economy, as it will positively affect many
industries from manufacturing to fashion design.

7. Employment Opportunities available in the cotton industry includes:
 Direct employment such as  Indirect employment like
oField workers oTextile retailers
oAdministrators oTailors
oOperators oFashion designers
oDistributors oTransporters
oSuppliers
oBotanist
oTechnicians

8. Our Plan is fashioned to cater for youths at all levels of
education. The main elements of our plan are listed below:
• The first step involves setting up a training center where
selected unemployed youths will be trained on how to cultivate
cotton
• Land will be acquired and trained youths will cultivate cotton
on these land with the knowledge they have acquired.
• Textile mills will be built for textile production
• Bales of harvested cotton will be processed into yarns and fiber

9. • The next stage in the plan requires training youths in fashion
design to give them the skills required to turn the processed
cotton into clothing wares.
• These system will be run as a social enterprise and will be
committed to high wage and continuous employment scheme.
• This system is very scalable and can be repeated in different
cities in the nation with each having its own farm and textile
mill running independently of the other

10. PROJECTED OUTCOME
If each farm acquired is about 100 hectares and employs about 800
people beginning with at least 2 farms in the first year, we can gain an
accelerated growth and employ about 100,000 people in about 10 years.
This number can increase tremendously in the presence of Governmental
support.
This scheme is targeted at youths within ages 18 – 45, as soon as this age
limit is exceeded, such individuals will be asked to resign to create space
for more youths to be employed.
The amount of land purchased, the production capacity, number of cities
penetrated, and overall profit made from the cotton industry will indicate
the level of success attained per time.