The Nasarawa pilot
A pilot run once at zone scale, and measured
Ten days of delivery for 1,500 participants across three streams — designed so that the decision to replicate it can rest on evidence.
Why here
Two economies, in one zone
The case for the scheme rests on what Nasarawa State already produces and on the work being created next door to it.
The North Central Zone carries two economic realities at once. It is part of the country’s agricultural heartland, yet the productivity of that land remains far below its potential; and it sits adjacent to the Federal Capital Territory, where a fast-growing digital economy is generating work that the zone’s young people are largely unequipped to take up.
Nasarawa State illustrates the point precisely. More than seventy per cent of the State’s population is engaged in farming, across an estimated 180,000 farming families. The State is Nigeria’s largest producer of sesame, and also produces soybean, groundnut, maize, rice, yam and cassava in commercial volume. The River Benue and its tributaries create fertile floodplains well suited to irrigation and dry-season farming. Despite these advantages, the greater part of production remains subsistence-scale, rain-dependent and poorly linked to structured markets.
The scheme equips 1,500 participants with practical, market-relevant skills in the sectors that offer the zone the clearest route to income, through a delivery model that can be measured, evaluated and replicated.
Scale
What is committed, in figures
These are commitments for the pilot, not achieved results.
Places are divided 700 on Agriculture Skills, 400 on Digital Skills and 400 on Business Development Skills. All three streams train at one centre in Lafia; the venue is to be announced.
Delivery
The ten-day schedule
Enrolment opens ten days before the physical training. Exact arrangements remain subject to confirmation by the Supervising Office.
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From 4 September 2026 Enrolment
Enrolment opens on the programme platform
Nominees are enrolled onto the online class ten days before the physical training. Each nominee is verified and assigned a place before the guided week begins.
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7 to 13 September 2026 Guided week online
One week of guided online learning
The foundations of the chosen stream are delivered on the programme platform over seven days, with facilitated sessions and short assignments, so that participants arrive at the centre already grounded and the two days on site can be spent on practice.
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Monday 14 September 2026 Physical training
Day one at the centre
Applied instruction in the chosen stream, delivered in person at the training centre in Lafia.
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Tuesday 15 September 2026 Physical training
Day two at the centre
Supervised practical work and the competency assessment against which certification is issued.
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Wednesday 16 September 2026 Closing
Pitch, awards and graduation
Enterprise proposals are presented to the judging panel, awards and starter support are handed over, and certificates are presented, as at the close of the 2025 programme.
Design
The four principles the pilot is built on
Each was chosen to make the pilot measurable and worth replicating.
Principle 1
Depth over breadth
Delivery is concentrated in three streams, drawn from the five the initiative has previously run, rather than spread thinly across many. Each stream carries five subject units taught over ten days. A participant holds a place in one stream only, so that the 1,500 are 1,500 distinct individuals.
Principle 2
The online week carries the groundwork
The first three units of every syllabus are delivered on this platform across the guided week, so that participants arrive at the centre already grounded. The two days on site are then spent on supervised practice and assessment rather than on introductions.
Principle 3
One centre, thirteen Local Government Areas
Participants are drawn from all 13 Local Government Areas of Nasarawa State and train together at a single centre in Lafia. One centre keeps facilitation, equipment and assessment consistent across the three streams rather than varying by location.
Principle 4
Enablement, then measurement
Training is followed by equipment, registration support and market linkage, because a skill without the means to apply it does not produce income. Baseline, endline and six-month tracer data are collected as part of delivery, so that the case for replication in the remaining zones rests on what was measured rather than on assertion.
Outcomes
What the scheme is designed to produce
Every line below is a commitment for the pilot, traceable to the programme design.
- 1,500 residents of Nasarawa State trained and certified in market-relevant agriculture, digital and enterprise competencies.
- 700 farmers equipped in improved agronomy, dry-season irrigation and post-harvest handling across the State’s priority value chains.
- 400 young people equipped for digitally enabled work, of whom twenty-four are device-enabled on assessed merit to begin earning immediately.
- 400 micro-enterprise operators trained in proactive enterprise practice, with formalisation support for those whose plan requires registration.
- Ten producer clusters constituted and equipped with shared solar irrigation capacity, extending production into the dry season.
- Business clusters and savings groups constituted before graduation, and four monthly follow-up visits to each Business Development enterprise.
- Not less than 50 per cent participation by women, youth and persons living with disabilities.
- New enterprises established and seed-funded through the pitch competition on the closing day.
- A documented and evaluated delivery model ready for replication across the remaining geo-political zones.
Measurement
How outcomes are established
Two stages, one during delivery and one after it, on the same design the initiative asks to be judged by.
During delivery
- Baseline assessment. Every participant completes a pre-training assessment capturing current skill level and, for the agriculture stream, current yield, acreage and income. This establishes the counterfactual against which impact is later measured.
- Endline assessment. The assessment on the second day at the centre measures competency gain. Certification is issued against demonstrated competence, not attendance.
- Participant feedback. Structured feedback is collected from every stream on content relevance, facilitator effectiveness and logistics.
After delivery
- Six-month tracer study. Conducted six months after graduation, recording the proportion of participants who adopted the taught practices, changes in yield and income, enterprises established, and digital work secured.
- Reporting. Reports to the Supervising Office throughout delivery, and a consolidated implementation report, independently audited, on completion.
- The decision to replicate. The tracer evidence is what the case for extending the model to the remaining geo-political zones must rest on — or what redesigns it.