WOFAN distributes agricultural inputs to 90,000 farmers in 8 states, FCT

By Biola Adebayo On Jun 18, 2023

WOFAN, MasterCard, Young farmers, FCT — WOFAN distributes agricultural inputs to 90,000 farmers in 8 states, FCT

The Women Farmers Advancement Network (WOFAN) has completed the distribution of 2,100 tons of fertilizer and agricultural inputs to 90,000 smallholders young farmers from eight states and the FCT.

The beneficiaries from the WOFAN 2023 wet season input support to farmers are from Adamawa, Benue, Bauchi, Gombe, Jigawa, Kaduna, Kano, and Nasarawa states with the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

Similarly WOFAN said the farmers were supported with a step by step farming procedures to enhance their yields.

Speaking at the closing ceremony, in Abuja, on Thursday, the Country Director of the Project, Hajia ( Dr) Salamatu Garba said that the smallholders young farmers formed groups of 30 members each and were supported to establish 6,000 hectares of groundnut, maize, rice, and sorghum group farms.

She explained that the farms will be cultivated by members with inputs provided by the Project, noting that at harvest, the groups will use income from the production to carry out the next farming season while also putting aside a small portion of the income to support members’ individual farming activities.

“Supporting smallholder farmers to form strong functional groups will help to generate employment opportunities for all members and also improve building of small-scale enterprises which can create sustainable social safety nets for all members”, she said.

Giving a breakdown of the inputs to be received by the farmers’ groups, she explained that in addition to getting 2.1 million kilograms of fertilizer, the farmers will also receive 300,000 kilograms of improved groundnut, maize, rice, and sorghum seeds and 36,000 litres of agrochemicals and pesticides, adding that 45,000 (or 50%) of the beneficiaries are women.

She also noted that with the grants from the ICON2 Project, the farmers are on course to jointly generate employment and create wealth even in the face of the challenging economic situation in the country.

The Country Director said, “the challenging economic situation has made millions of young people unemployed. What ICON2 is doing today is giving young people opportunity to set up their own agricultural enterprises and creating wealth for themselves and other young people. So, with these inputs grants, they can set up their own rice and groundnut farms, giving themselves employment. But they will also employ other young men and women to transport their produce, thereby creating employment opportunities for these other young people.

Speaking at the FCT Area Council, Alhaji Baba Naanannabi expressed gratitude to the MasterCard Foundation and WOFAN for providing such a large amount of inputs to groups in his area and other parts of the country to carry out 2023 wet season production.

He promised on behalf of the traditional leaders and other stakeholders who attended the concluding part of the inputs distribution that they will ensure all benefitting groups put the inputs to proper use and actually grow to be able to replicate their production from the next farming season upwards.

“On behalf of all the traditional rulers and community leaders present here today, I thank WOFAN and Mastercard Foundation for this great support. It is particularly gratifying that these inputs are being provided to the groups free so that they can lay solid foundations for growth. We promise to ensure the inputs are put to the intended use and we will continue to monitor our people to ensure they continue to develop from this foundation. Thank you so very much”, he said.

SOLACEBASE reports that the ICON 2 project is funded by the Mastercard Foundation to support 675,000 youths, across nine states, over a 5-year period to develop and maintain sustainable livelihoods and have an improved quality of life, in line with the Mastercard Foundation’s bold Young Africa Works-Nigeria (2021-2030) strategy to enable 10 million youth in Nigeria (including 7 million young women) to secure dignified and fulfilling employment.

WOFAN is in collaboration with two Project Implementing Partners (IPs), Farm Innovation Limited and Palm Valley Nigeria Limited (PVNL) who were on hand to receive and transport the inputs to their respective states of Adamawa, Nassarawa, Benue and part of Kaduna states.