The Managing Director of YSJ Farms Limited, Mrs Yemisi Joluwe, has expressed joy over the milestone achieved by the agriculture revolution initiative between her company and the Ekiti State Government, describing the N1 billion profit distributed to young farmers as a loud testimony that Governor Biodun Oyebanji is changing the farming narratives in the state.
Mrs Joluwe spoke in Ado Ekiti on Wednesday, during the official distribution of the N1 billion profit to over 4,000 youth farmers operating in the state, as their dividends for the end of the 2025 farming season under the “bring youth back to agriculture initiative”.
Speaking at the occasion, the highly ecstatic Joluwe said farming has become a profitable venture in the state today due to new innovations brought by YSJ farms.
Joluwe was elated that the Youth in Commercial Agriculture was not only providing incomes for over 4,000 youth, but had succeeded in reducing unemployment, change wrong perspective about farming and also bring a slump to astronomic increase in the prices of food in the state.
The Managing Director boasted that Ekiti will soon become the food basket of the country with this initiative sustained through more robust partnership between her company and the state government.
Branding her farming innovation as making Ekiti a bride among the comity of states in Nigeria, Joluwe said achieving that much through the programme is a dream comes through, saying there is capacity to absorb more youth into the programme if sustained by successive governments.
Joluwe said, “It is not only YSJ that is into this . We have solid people behind us. We have the President Bola Tinubu, Governor Biodun Oyebanji. These two people are sufficient to any amount of youth in this country. We are ready and willing to keep pushing”.
She said her dream is to have the initiative running in all the 36 states of the federation, saying they have been able to achieve it in the whole of the Southwest .
“We are looking forward to spread our tentacles to the northern and eastern part of the country. So that we can work together. It not just about the youth of Southwest but to engage the entire youth of Nigeria.
” Our focus is the youth, we are growing and going. They are our future , they will determine all our investment . It is essential that 80 percent are embrace agriculture because without agriculture in our country, we will all be enslaved. 13 clusters were empowered . The least going home with the minimum of 500,000 million naira”.
Presenting the cheques to the young farmers on Monday at Osuntokun Pavilion, Government House, Ado- Ekiti, Governor Biodun Oyebanji who was represented by the is Chief of Staff, Mr Niyi Adebayo said the state government is fully committed to creating an enabling environment for youth to thrive .
He said said development of the youth through the initiative validates the government belief in agriculture as a virile economic pathway and affirmed the administration commitment to inclusion and sustainable development.
The governor said, ” When we conceived along the Bring Back Youth Into Agriculture in Ekiti state in 2024 , our objective was clear , it was to deliberately reengage young people in agriculture not as a subsistence activity but as a profitable business capable of providing sustainable livelihood and strengthening food security in Ekiti state.
“It is noteworthy that this program has grown from 911 participants from a year ago to 5000 this year. This represents over 500 percent increase in head count. This product of 5000 collectively have generated a total profit of 1 billion naira which represents 700 percent increase over the 145 million naira generated in 2024. This is what economists will call increasing returns to scale . This means they were more productive than what they were last year.
“These cheques being presented today, therefore represents their earnings, your rewards for months of dedication, your resilience, adherence to beat agricultural practices”.
The governor added that it is astrong message to every young persons in Ekiti state and beyond, that agriculture is no longer a vocation of last resort but a business that one can engage in proudly and profitably on a sustainable basis.
While pledging that , his government will continue to support youth driven agriculture initiatives through access to land, improved farm inputs, extension services, mechanization, market linkages and partnership with the private sector, he said, ” This program aligns squarely with our administration’s shared prosperity agenda as relates to job creation and contribute significantly towards our quest for food sufficiency, poverty alleviation and general well-being. You have demonstrated that with the right support, training and commitment, young people can drive economic growth and become employers of labour rather than job seekers”.
He therefore urged the youth to use this proceeds wisely, by reinvesting it in their farms , expand their operations, adopt modern technologies and best practices and build sustainable agric-business that can stand the test of time.
” Let the success of today mark the beginning of bigger achievements and not the end of your journey.Reinvest the money in you business so that you can grow and receive more that you collect this year come next year in money”.
In his address, the Commissioner for Agriculture and Food Security, Mr Ebenezer Boluwade said the target of the government is to empower 50,000 thousand youth of the state by 2030 and they will be turning in around 50 billion naira every year through agriculture.
According to him, This is the 2nd edition of the presentation of cheque to our worthy and committed youth . The first edition was held in November 2024 and a little over 1000 youth were rewarded. But today,more than 5000 committed and hardworking youth will be rewarded with one billion naira .
“We have moved from 145 million naira to 1 billion naire and by next year we are doing 5 billion by rhe special grace of God”.
He thanked the programme partner, YSJ Limited, led by Mrs Yemisi Joluwe for their proactiveness and energy deployed into the program.
Also speaking , the Commissioner for Youth Development, Hon. Adesola Gold Adedayo said Governor Biodun Oyebanji is actually building the youth of the state through this program and other initiatives.
Hon. Adedayo who maintained that initiative is targeted at empowering and developing Ekiti youth said, “The program is not just about sharing of cheques alone but it’s about empowering our youths , solving of our problems as youth and as state in this nation. When youth are developed and empowered, you are not only contributing to their lives but also contributing to the development of the economy of the state .
The youth are proud to be 70 percent of the population of this state and we know anything the government did for the youth it is done to the state as a whole.
He thanked the governor for being particular about the youth for everything being done to empower them in all of the ministries not only in agriculture but in wealth creation, innovation, trade and investment .
He also thanked the President and founder of YSJ for their investment into the youth of Ekiti State. It is a way of promoting public private partnership to develop our youth.
Advising the youth, he said,, ” To whom must is given, much more is expected and so I am inviting all of our remaining youth at home , please, key into agricultural programs to better your lives
“Of course, we have comparative advantage in agriculture in Ekiti state, our soil is very good and weather condition is very okay. And we have a governor who identified that, Bring Back Youth Into Agriculture is one critical way that we can actually empower our youth.
“Wealth is being created, fund made available. In the ministry of youth development, youth are being encouraged, trained for them to know how to apply, invest the funds being accessed to better their life and for the returns on the money invested will continue to increase and multiply”.