N-Agro Latest News: N-power Agro in 2021, all you need to know about the Changes

The Trends in N-Agro in 2021 

The N-power Agro popularly known as N-Agro is one of the key categories of the Federal Government of Nigeria N-power Programme which was firstly launched in 2016.

N-Agro, in 2016 to 2020, was one of the Graduate Categories of the N-power Programme alongside N-Teach and N-Health.

While the N-Teach beneficiaries were deployed to Educational Sectors such as Primary Schools and Secondary Schools in Nigeria, N-Health and N-Agro were deployed to Health Facilities/Health Centers and Agricultural Zones respectively.

The N-power Agro Salary  (Stipend) as at 2016 to 2020 was N30,000 which was paid on monthly bases, just like other Graduate Categories of the N-power Programme.

However in 2021, the N-Agro was split into Graduate and Non-Graduate Categories while the core description and motive of the programme remained relatively the same for the both categories.

Explaining the reason for including N-Agro as a non Graduate Category, the Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development emphasised that there is a need for increased youth participation in agricultural development in Nigeria. Hence, the extention of the N-Agro to non-Graduates would intensify youth eagerness to partake in agricultural ventures after acquiring the skills imparted by the N-power Programme.

N-Power Agro Salary in 2021

In terms of Stipends which will be paid to the Graduate and Non Graduate Categories of N-Agro, the Graduate Category will recieve a monthly Stipend of N30,000 while the Non-Graduate Category would recieve a monthly Stipend of N10,000.

N-Agro Deployement 

N-Agro beneficiaries are deployed to Agricultural Zones in their places of Residence, under the State Ministry of Agriculture.  

In each Agricultural Zone, there are Agricultural Blocks and Circles which are cluster formations in the Agricultural Zones.

An Agricultural Block is a cluster of N-Agro Beneficiaries in a selected and defined close communities. This aggregation do conduct meetings known as Block meetings, where they are instructed on how to deliver their duties.

An Agricultural Circle is a small unit of a Block which consist of N-Agro Beneficiaries in a single community.

The deployment of the N-Agro beneficiaries of the 2021 Batch C Stream 1 N-power Programme is on going.

What is the Function of Npower Agro?

Some Nigerians have argued that the N-Agro beneficiaries have no work to do while some think they may be given hoes and cutlasses to start tilling the ground or cutting grasses. Both are not true.  

An N-Agro beneficiary works as an Agricultural Extension Officers. He/she delivers advisory roles to Farmers in his/her Circle. 

They will be trained and retrained on the informative and technical advices to give to the Farmers. In fact, N-Agro beneficiaries recieve better training than N-Health and N-Teach asides the on-the-job skills acquired from the N-power Programme. 

Advices to Farmers ranges from new farming mechanisms to new or improved varieties of crops or animals.

What is the Duration of Npower Agro?

Following the restructuring of the N-power Programme by the Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, the Graduate Category of N-power will stay for 12 Months while Non-Graduates will stay for 9 months, after which a new batch would be ushered in.

Related: N-power: When Batch C Payment will commence, Current N-power Salary Structure and Duration

The Ministry however promised an Exit Plan for the N-power Beneficiaries when they complete their duration in the N-power Programme, which was described as a Loan offer or employment. However, similar promise made to Batch A and B N-power Beneficiaries have remained unfulfilled.

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