ActionAid Nigeria has initiated a project aimed at training 120,000 Smallholder Women Farmers (SHWF) and youth in innovative agricultural methods and facilitating access to essential resources such as seeds, seedlings, livestock, and poultry farming.
The project’s goal is to promote agroecological practices, indigenous seed production, and biodiversity preservation to increase farm yields and enhance food and nutrition security. Suwaiba Dankabo, Deputy Country Director and Director of Programmes at ActionAid Nigeria, announced the project during a National Summit on Agroecology and Public-Private Partnership on Agroecology in Abuja.
Funded by the ActionAid International (AAI) Transformative Impact Fund, the three-year initiative aims to establish and expand agroecological model farms led by SHWF in Ondo, Delta, Ebonyi, Jigawa, and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
The Summit’s objective is to explore strategies for improving agroecology practices, farming, and food systems to alleviate hunger in Nigeria. It particularly emphasizes empowering women and youth, who play a crucial role in the country’s agricultural sector.
Dankabo underscored the importance of women, who make up over 60% of Nigeria’s agricultural workforce, in ensuring food security and contributing to both subsistence farming and commercial production.
