| ID: | 82897 |
|---|---|
| Country: | Nigeria |
| Title: | Nigeria - Value Chain Development Programme (VCDP) – November 2023 |
| Description: |
Margaret Ugah, 24 years old, a person with disability and VCDP project participant, plaits hair to supplement the income she earns from farming cassava, in the shade of her home in Doma, Nasarawa State, northcentral Nigeral. Margaret Ogah's life, as a person living with a disability and orphaned at a young age, was marked by immense challenges. Life became miserable for her without her parents, and she often thought she couldn’t make it without them. With no one to sponsor her at school, she was forced to halt her education. However, a transformative turn came when she joined the VCDP in 2021 and learned how VCDP helps the less privileged realize their life potential, providing support to small-scale rice and cassava producers, and strengthening linkages throughout the respective value chains. VCDP established a group of 25 people with disabilities in Margret’s community to do cassava farming, and she joined. Today, she serves as the group’s secretary. The project helped group members acquire access to land and provided them with start-up inputs needed for cassava production. Margret was able to rent 1.5 hectares of land, and the VCDP supported her with fertilizer, pesticide and 50 bundles of certified cassava stems (15,000 stems). In that way, she became a cassava farmer. Her first crop in 2021 yielded six pick-up truck loads. She used her earnings of Naira 240,000 (US$ 270) to buy inputs and pay labour for cultivating the next crop. From most recent harvest in November 2023, Margret sold ten pick-up trucks full of cassava at Naria 80,000 (US$ 90) per load. The thing she is most proud of is that she has been able to re-enroll in school where she is studying Mass Communications and interning as a radio talkshow host. "IFAD and VCDP have done their very best to put a smile on my face. They have supported me so much,” exclaimed Margret. “I never believed that one day I can smile, and that one day I can become who I want to be in life. Margret Ogah has become great in life." Margret enjoys helping others in her community and group. She pays her tricycle driver Naira 20,000 per week. And when other members of her group need help, she does everything she can to make sure they get the assistance they need. It is her way of saying thank you to IFAD and VCDP for helping her realize her potential as a farmer. “People living with disability should not limit themselves in anything that they want to do in life. They should always be confident and have hope that one day, life will become better for them. They should keep an open mind and have the courage to accept help from those who wish to help them. I thank IFAD and VCDP for enabling me to become the person I am today.” The Value Chain Development Programme (VCDP), which started its activities in 2014, works in close coordination with local government across nine states—Anambra, Benue, Ebonyi, Enugu, Kogi, Nasarawa, Niger, Ogun, and Taraba—on developing cassava and rice value chains for smallholder farmers, rolling out development initiatives that aim to reduce post-harvest losses, strengthen food security and accelerate economic growth. Building strong public-private-producer partnerships (4Ps) has provided a solid pathway for reaching sustainable transformation in rural communities where agriculture is a mainstay of economic activity. VCDP helps households adopt sustainable and climate resilient practices, as well as dietary diversity that leads to better nutrition and health benefits. The project has benefited almost 100,000 rural people, in particular women and youth. The number of households living in poverty has decreased by almost 50 per cent, while agricultural income of more than 60 per cent of VCDP-supported beneficiaries has increased by 25 per cent. |
| Size: | 16.40 MB; 6480 x 4320 pixels; 549 x 366 mm (print at 300 DPI); 1714 x 1143 mm (screen at 96 DPI); |
| Show more details: | Andrew Esiebo |
| Copyright: | ©IFAD/Andrew Esiebo |
| Categories: | New from West and Central Africa |
| URL: | www.ifad.org |
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