Demonstration environment — nominations entered here are practice data, not the live register. The live site is cdtin.org.

Seal of the Office of the Special Assistant to the President on Capacity Development Office of the Special Assistant to the President on Capacity Development Capacity Development Training Initiative

Training tracks

Three streams, five subject units each

A participant holds a place in one stream only. Every stream runs to the same ten-day schedule: a guided week online, two days of practice at the centre in Lafia, and the closing day.

Choose a stream

The three streams

They are drawn from the five the initiative has previously delivered. Choose the one that matches the work you actually intend to do.

Agriculture

Agriculture Skills

Practical agronomy, dry-season irrigation and post-harvest handling, built around the value chains Nasarawa produces at scale and the irrigation opportunity created by the River Benue floodplains.

Priority is given to

  • Priority to practising smallholder farmers
  • Members of registered cooperatives
  • Young people with demonstrable access to farmland
700 places One week online, then two days at the centre

Digital

Digital Skills

A guided week online that builds the foundation, then two days at the centre on a dedicated machine per participant, converting that foundation into a marketable specialisation.

Priority is given to

  • Priority to youth with basic literacy
  • A demonstrated intent to work in or through digital channels
  • Prior computer experience is not required
400 places One week online, then two days at the centre

Business Development

Business Development Skills

Built on the evidence that conventional classroom business training produces small gains, while training that builds proactive initiative, simplifies financial practice into usable rules and ends in a lender-ready file produces substantially larger ones.

Priority is given to

  • Priority to existing micro-enterprise operators, market traders and artisans with a trading activity
  • Cooperative members with a demonstrated business idea
  • Nominees not already selected for another stream, so that the 1,500 are 1,500 distinct individuals
400 places One week online, then two days at the centre

Syllabus and schedule

How five units fit into ten days

Every syllabus on this programme is built the same way, so a participant on any stream knows exactly what is taught where.

  1. 7–13 September 2026 Online, on this platform

    Units one to three

    The foundations of the stream are delivered over the guided week, with facilitated sessions and short assignments, so that participants arrive at the centre already grounded.

  2. 14–15 September 2026 At the centre in Lafia

    Units four and five

    The applied units are taught in person across the two days on site, ending in supervised practical work and the competency assessment against which certification is issued.

  3. 16 September 2026 Closing day

    Pitch, awards and graduation

    Enterprise proposals are presented to the judging panel, awards and starter support are handed over, and certificates are presented.

Comparison

The three streams side by side

Places, delivery and what follows the training, for each stream.

All three streams run on the same dates, at one centre in Lafia.
Stream Places Delivery Enablement after training
Agriculture Skills 700 One week online, then two days at the centre Ten producer clusters, each receiving a shared solar irrigation kit with basic implements and input support.
Digital Skills 400 One week online, then two days at the centre Twenty-four graduates who complete the guided week online and pass the final assessment receive a personal workstation, awarded on assessed merit.
Business Development Skills 400 One week online, then two days at the centre Merit-awarded working-asset packages specified against the graduate’s assessed plan, cluster savings and lending groups constituted before graduation, and targeted formalisation support for graduates whose plan requires registration.