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The United States Agency for International Development (USAID), Nestle Nigeria, Volunteers for Economic Growth Alliance (VEGA) and Vega Member Cultivating New Frontiers in Agriculture (CNFA) is training farmers on good farming practices under the Feed Future Nigeria and Nestle maize improvement initiative.
The training aims to address challenges within the country’s agricultural supply chain, post-harvest losses and contaminants that are the problem of staple crops such as maize, soybean through a multi-stakeholder action.
Also, with the program farmers, workers and small agricultural businesses in Kaduna state are trained by leveraging on the expertise of volunteers.
Under the training program, farmers will learn how to reduce crop contamination which will help them sustainably increase the safety and quality of maize and soybeans and other crops, thereby leading to improve health, nutrition and livelihoods in their communities.
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“This public-private partnership supported by Feed the Future will help lift farmers out of poverty by sharing best practices in agricultural activities and focusing on value chains,” said Stephen Haykin, mission director, USAID in a press statement made available to BusinessDay.
“Providing farmers and suppliers with the knowledge and tools to improve their product will help them garner higher selling prices and increase household incomes. Investments in this program from Nestlé and through the in-kind contributions of volunteers’ really stretch U.S. taxpayer dollars and increase the return on investment,” Haykin said.
For the past three years, Nestlé has been working with farmers to improve their agricultural practices to ensure the safety and quality of their crops. This forms part of its creating shared value to create value both for business and society.
With these projects, the company has been able to reach 30,000 smallholder farmers, helping them to increase their income by 35 per cent.
The new partnership is expected to significantly expand on these efforts, reaching an additional 20,000 smallholder farmers—including 40 per cent women and other agro-industry entrepreneurs within the value chain.
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It is estimated that the implementation of this program will increase the sales of better quality maize and soybean by at least 17,000 metric tons annually helping to improve the livelihoods of these farmers.
Mauricio Alarcon, CEO and managing director, Nestlé Nigeria said “this partnership is in line with Nestlé’s purpose of enhancing the quality of life and contributing to a healthier future. Our creating shared value approach enables us to build thriving, resilient communities with whom we work, by improving the livelihoods of individuals and families.”
“Today, we locally source more than 80 per cent of our raw material and we are committed to further increase in this regard. We believe that the collaboration with the communities, CNFA, USAID and VEGA will help to improve livelihoods in communities connected to our business activities,” Alarcon said.
Sylvain Roy, CNFA President & CEO is confident that the partnership will allow CNFA to apply unique expertise in supporting smallholder farmers globally to improve the organisation’s new beneficiaries’ capacity to supply processors which is one of the fundamental linkages in the agric value chain.
“CNFA shares a commitment with our partners to building local technical expertise and capacity for sustainable impact and change, and we intend to leverage all of our capabilities—development, agriculture training, skilled volunteers and more to ensure the success of this public-private partnership, and to empower smallholder farmers and business people along the supply chain—including women, youth and families,” Roy said.
Michael Deal, president and CEO, VEGA said “VEGA is very pleased to have brought these partners together to create sustainable supply chain solutions to enhance the well-being of farmers, small business owners and families in Nigeria.
“This partnership serves as a model multi-stakeholder collaboration to leverage the expertise of highly skilled volunteers to generate more prosperity and shared value for all partners. VEGA will continue to coordinate the collaboration of our partners and ensure rigorously,” he said.
Josephine Okojie
