Consortium Disburses $6m Grant to North-East Farmers

August 5, 2021
North-East Farmers

By Sodeinde Temidayo David

A consortium of 10 companies, which are part of the Feed-the-Future Nigeria Rural Resilience Activity, has disbursed an agricultural grant worth $6 million for the improvement of agricultural food supply in the North East of Nigeria.

This was revealed during the kick-off meeting held on Wednesday, where the organisation informed 10 private sector firms on intervention areas and expectations from the partnerships.

The companies include Meadow Foods, CropIT, Jamil Al Hakim Foundation, Motherhen Development Foundation, E-Purse, Rural Farmers Hub, Centre for Microenterprise Development, Golden Agri Inputs Ltd, Deva Access and HelloTractor.

The project that started with a five-year timeline (2019 -2024), said the new fund through the support of partnerships with private sector companies, social enterprises and civil society organisations, including international organisations, will address decades of low farm output caused by insurgency with its innovation and financial innovation support.

The grant will support at least 350,000 smallholder farms through the production value chain by providing quality inputs, extension services, premium price buy-back and linkage of farmers to the right market.

And also, some of the grant partnerships would focus on facilitating access to appropriate financial services and improving the productivity of 40,000 micro, small and medium enterprises engaged in the rice, maize, cowpea and groundnut value chains.

Through the fund, the Rural Resilience Activity provides matching grants and technical assistance to sustainably improve the enterprises’ performance and strengthen the overall market system to improve the productivity of smallholder farmers and microenterprises.

In Nigeria, the agriculture sector is ripe for market-led growth, from processing to transportation to trade.

With a growing population and increased demand, the sector has enormous potential and plays a key role in food security in West and Central Africa.

Feed the Future’s efforts are stimulating economic growth and increasing opportunities for employment, empowering women and youth, promoting innovation, advancing trade, and lifting people out of extreme poverty.

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