By AbdulGafar Alabelewe, Kaduna

As part of COVID-19 economic recovery and resilience intervention, an agricultural company has launched a programme to train and assist 10,000 women farmers in Kaduna, Benue, Kano, Katsina and Niger states with quality inputs for maize and rice.

The two-year programme jointly organised by Value Seed and Master Card Foundation is designed to improve yield, ensure farmers have access to the best agronomics practices, access to reliable weather forecast, access to premium markets as well as link farmers to financial institutions and job creation.

At the launch of the programme in Kaduna yesterday, Project Lead, Value Seed Limited and Country Head, Mastercard Foundation, George Kabutha and Chidinma Lawanson Nonye Omotola respectively said women between the ages of 20 and 60 years, as well as youth between 18 and 35 years, will benefit from the two-year intervention.

Kabutha said the COVID-19 intervention programme will deliver emergency support for health workers, first responders, and students as well as strengthen the diverse institutions that are the first line of defence against the social and economic aftermath, including universities, financial services providers, businesses, technology start-ups, incubators, government agencies, youth organisations, and non-governmental organisations.

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According to him, 10,000 women will be selected as direct beneficiaries of a two-year agricultural intervention, as Value Seeds launches their COVID-19 Recovery and Resilience Intervention Project in partnership with the Mastercard Foundation.

“At Value Seeds, we understand that young women face multiple constraints when acquiring training and empowerment opportunities as well as accessing credit. The pandemic has further aggravated these constraints by making inputs more expensive and market logistics more tedious for the smallholder farmer.

“We intend to improve farmers’ yields by providing access to improved seeds, quality crop production inputs, and strengthening their capacity to produce optimally which are major constraints affecting farmers’ productivity,” Kabutha said.

He added: “The programme is expected to increase the volume of premium maize and rice grains in the market by about 450,000 tons. It will also create direct jobs in the crop value chain, including input dealers, farm labourers, transporters, logistic officers, marketers’ off-takers, feed millers, and members of staff in the agro-processing industry.

Chidinma Lawanson said: “Value Seeds advocates that a bottoms-up agriculture transformation is the best path to inclusive economic growth to build the resilience of the Nigerian population. The goal of the project is in alignment with the Mastercard Foundation COVID-19 Recovery and Resilience Programme, which focuses on the provision of direct support to companies in the agricultural value chain, to ensure that smallholder farmers have access to markets and to maintain food security.”

A farmer from Makarfi Local Government Area, Amina Micah said she has benefited immensely from the training and support, she has received from the company, saying: “I used to lose a huge portion of my farm because I did not have the technological know-how. But since I started relating to the company, their counselling and seedlings have helped my farm to grow to the extent that I have become an employer of labour.”