By Faridat Salifu
In Osun State this week, a fresh wave of entrepreneurial hope is taking flight as the National Agricultural Lands Development Authority (NALDA) rolls out a community-driven poultry scheme that places women and young people at its core.
Unveiled by NALDA Executive Secretary Cornelius Adebayo during the Renewed Hope Women and Youth Empowerment Programme, the initiative uses a “revolving” model designed to turn small-scale poultry farming into a sustainable business engine for grassroots participants.
Rather than granting cash handouts, NALDA equips each beneficiary with two cages, 20 three-week-old pullets, and four bags of fortified feed.
After a month of rearing under the watchful eye of local extension officers, linked off-takers step in to purchase the fully grown birds at guaranteed prices.
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Profits are then split between farmers, NALDA, and the surrounding community, ensuring that every tranche of return fuels the entry of new participants and feeds back into local economies.
“This isn’t charity—it’s social enterprise,” said Adebayo. “By nurturing assets rather than handing out money, we’re building a self-sustaining system that grows with its people.”
Observers note that the approach simultaneously tackles youth unemployment and food insecurity, empowering young entrepreneurs to learn agribusiness skills while strengthening poultry supply chains across the state.
NALDA’s poultry plan revives an agency that first sprouted in 1992 before falling dormant, only to be revitalized in 2020.
Since then, it has amassed a network of farm estates and partnerships, leveraging donated land and public-private collaborations to drive everything from crop production to fishery projects.
By embedding smallholders in a revolving credit loop, the authority aims to expand its footprint beyond Osun, turning what was once idle farmland into a thriving mosaic of community-led enterprises.
