| ID: | 82985 |
|---|---|
| Country: | Nigeria |
| Title: | Nigeria - Value Chain Development Programme (VCDP) – November 2023 |
| Description: |
Lovely Nnenna Egim, 47 years old, mills rice at the Angel Rice Mill processing facility she co-manages with her husband in the Aninri local government area in south-eastern Nigeria’s Enugu State. Lovely buys rice paddy from local farmers, including the VCDP-supported women’s cooperatives located in their Aninri community and processes it using the steam barboiling technology provided by the project. Born into a farming community, Lovely has been a farmer since day one. VCDP has provided women’s cooperatives with inputs and support, including Faro44 certified rice seeds, agro-chemicals (fertilizers, pesticides, herbicides) and training. Thanks to the VCDP intervention, rice yields have soared from 2.1 to over 5.2 tons per hectare. VCDP's support extended cultivation into the dry season through water pumps, further boosting yearly production and income. Previously focused on subsistence farming, the women have learned from VCDP that farming is a business, revolutionizing her approach. “IFAD came to us as good news, and IFAD has been a source of joy for all of us. IFAD came to Nigeria at the right time. With the help IFAD and VCDP is giving to the country at large, and to me in particular, we have gone from asking ourselves ‘how can we do it?’ to having a true passion for farming as a business. VCDP is giving us all that we need to succeed as farmers.” Even if Lovely and other farmers in her community know that the VCDP is coming to an end and that IFAD is already planning its exit strategy, she is confident that all they have achieved with the project’s support is sustainable. According to Lovely, one of the distinct advantages of the VCDP is that they give inputs and training at the right times. Farmers are learning bookkeeping, about better nutrition and gender equality, and helping households live together in harmony and peace. And farmers are encouraged to keep good records about their farming practices and results as a reference for the future. “When I was given the opportunity to speak at a conference in Rome in July 2023, my message was clear to the world. If you want to sustain agriculture, there must be solid funding and strong links to markets. And there must be affordable access to climate insurance for farmers, as well as for offtakers like me.” As the Vice-President of the VCDP-backed Commodity Alliance Forum in Enugu State, Lovely understands the importance of ensuring that farmers are paid a fair market price for their harvest. In fact, she has signed an MOU with VCDP – a mutually beneficial relationship between buyer (processor) and seller (farmer) whereby the buyer offers an agreed market price to the farmer in exchange for quality paddy. It is a win-win arrangement. “One challenge we face is that older farmers are aging. It is not that young people have no interest in agriculture. Our issue is ensuring that young people have access to agricultural land. We have modern equipment now, so farming is no longer the backbreaking activity it once was. If we don’t encourage young people to pick up the mantle and give them access to newly developed land, we are wasting our time,” plead Evelyn. “IFAD is about the rural poor, and we, the rural poor, have experienced a huge difference brought about by IFAD’s support. Within the next years, I can assure you the difference will be greater. IFAD and VCDP, we love and cherish you.” 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: | 14.98 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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