| ID: | 82861 |
|---|---|
| Country: | Nigeria |
| Title: | Nigeria - Value Chain Development Programme (VCDP) – November 2023 |
| Description: |
Lobabatu Adamu Ibrahim, leader of the Albarka Women’s Multi-Purpose Cooperative's, proudly showcases bags of branded charcoal briquette available for sale from their stall at the marketing infrastructure built by VCDP to provide secure marketing and storage facilities for VCDP-supported processors. The Albarka Women’s Multi-Purpose Cooperative, founded in 2021, transforms agricultural waste into briquettes, addressing poverty and environmental issues by providing cleaner cooking energy and reducing reliance on firewood. Empowered by the IFAD/VCDP Gender Action Learning System, the cooperative learned conflict resolution skills, fostering unity and harmony among members. The financial gains from briquette making have notably transformed the women's lives, enabling them to support their households financially, marking a significant positive change. The women in the group come from different walks of life, and the briquette production has brought them together in solidarity. They use their collective earnings to make improvements to their business, such as buying the motorized tricycle for transportation, and to help the less privileged, like inmates in the nearby correctional centre. “My ambition is to produce briquettes in such massive quantity that my children growing up tomorrow will not remember the old practice of chopping down trees and making use of firewood and charcoal. They will have no memory of that at all. That is my dream,” said Lobabatu. 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: | 15.98 MB; 4320 x 6480 pixels; 366 x 549 mm (print at 300 DPI); 1143 x 1714 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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