Heifer Nigeria plans to support 1 million smallholder farmers

Heifer International Nigeria said Monday that it will support one million smallholder farmers as part of efforts to alleviate hunger and poverty in Nigeria.

Chuba Ezeigwe, the country’s communication manager, revealed this to The Guardian on a visit.

Ezeigwe claims that the objective is to tap into the potential for food self-sufficiency in the tomato, chicken, and rice value chains so that smallholder farmers may achieve a sustainable living income by 2030. He said that potential for the value chain in small ruminants and cattle will also be investigated in the coming days.

He said that Heifer will make it easier for smallholder farmers to access premium markets, financing, insurance, agricultural innovations, and farming methods.

By unlocking demand and market opportunities, investing in priority value chains, and leveraging innovation and emerging agricultural technologies to reach transformational scale, Heifer Nigeria aims to help more than one million households, the majority of which are made up of women and youth, achieve a sustainable living income by 2030.

Heifer Nigeria is “collaborating with stakeholders inside the Nigerian agricultural ecosystem,” he said, using a comprehensive approach. Young technological innovators and entrepreneurs are among them, as are tech hubs, agribusinesses and farmer organizations, investors, and financiers.

This aims to create and scale up more inclusive, economically viable, and sustainable agribusiness models and technologies capable of boosting the competitiveness and productivity of Nigeria’s agricultural sector to reduce food insecurity and poverty.

Heifer International established Africa Youth and Technology (AYuTe) to find, foster, and promote cutting-edge, pertinent, and technology-driven agric-centric businesses that grow, scale, and aid smallholder farmers in Africa in prospering in order to inspire youngsters into agriculture.

Ifeoluwa Olatayo, the competition’s winner and founder of Soupah Farm-en-Market Limited, was a member of the visiting team.

Olatayo said that as a distributor, they assist in bridging the gap between rural farmers and the market, particularly off takers. According to her, smallholder farmers get 32% more money with the assistance than they would if they used intermediaries.