Traders association, consortium empowers smallholder farmers in Niger

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By Rita Iliya

The National Association of Nigerian Traders (NANTS) says it three-year agricultural intervention project in Niger has empowered 367,000 smallholder farmers.

Dr Ken Ukaoha, National President of NANTS, said on Saturday that the project, implemented under the AGRA/Niger State consortium, surpassed its initial target of 350,000 farmers.

According to him, the project is to improve the farmers resilience and upscaling productivity, income and means of livelihood in rice, maize, soybean, cowpea and vegetable value chains.

Dr Ken Ukaoha, National President of NANTS, described the project as a huge success, with smallholder farmers gaining access to profitable markets, leading to higher incomes and improved bargaining power.

He said key achievements of the project was the establishment of 2,000 Village Savings and Loan Associations (VSLAs) to provide financial services to farmers.

Others, he said, was the training of over 124,000 out of the farmers on improved agricultural practices, post-harvest handling, and marketing.

Ukaoha said 203,000 smallholders farmers were integrated into supply chains and secured long-term deals with processors and agro-dealers.

Ukaoha recommended the use of digital technology to track commodities and improve market access as well as provide more financing options for VSLAs and smallholder farmers.

Mr Godswill Agwuyi, Programme Officer of AGRA, said the workshop was designed to gather feedback from VSLA groups on the project’s impact and to identify areas for future support.

“We want to hear from the VSLA groups on what worked well, what didn’t, and what they think we should focus on in the future,” he said.

He advised the VSLA groups to find ways to come together, communicate, and share information, ideas, and insights to sustain the project’s gains.

Christy Adamu, a beneficiary from Paiko, said the project provided them with Point of Sale (POS) machines.

“We used to travel all the way to Minna to deposit our savings and give loans to our members, but with the POS machines, we can now do everything easily and quickly,” she said.

She added that the project had enabled her association to save more money by making the process easier and more efficient.

Another beneficiary, Mrs Naomi Tsado, from Victory Poultry Farming Cooperative Society, said her cooperative benefited from the training on business development services, VSLA, and conflict resolution.

“We also received a grinding machine, which has been generating income for our cooperative and empowered us economically.

“We plan to use the income to purchase additional machines, which will add value to our income,” she said. (NAN)

Edited by Joe Idika

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