In collaboration with Mastercard Foundation, Agrolog Limited has empowered 60,000 smallholder farmers along the ginger value chain to boost productivity and enhance entrepreneurial farming with women farmers.
Since 2018, Agrolog has invested in developing the ginger value chain by using its internal resources to support an out-grower scheme, reaching an aggregate of 10,000 farmers.
This collaborative effort is focused on providing immediate material, capacity, and structural support to 60,000 smallholder farmers out of the over 1.2 million vulnerable indigenous Ginger farming communities of Kaduna State, spanning 12 local government areas.
As a result of the first year’s harvest, Agrolog embarked on vigorous training of women within the project community to help them process some of their harvests into ginger juice, powder, oil, spices and syrup to create new markets within and outside these communities.
The training featured over 100 women trained in batches who will become merchants for processed Ginger in Southern Kaduna. The women were mainly excited as they have been economically empowered to cater to their families and are grateful for a project that mostly pays attention to women to drive equality in community development.
According to Dr Manzo Maigari, the Managing Director, Agrolog Limited, the Nigerian variety of Ginger is very much in demand and can serve as a significant source of income for the country. It is also acclaimed to be of superior quality with an outstanding flavour and is in heavy demand in the international market.
“It is therefore on this basis that these women are undergoing training to give them a chance of more than just subsistence farming,” she said.
In time, they can export their produce to international markets and get real value for their labour and grow to empower their families and other women who will, in turn, empower others. In this way, we enable a cycle of development and progressive practices, which will drive gender parity and promote inclusion for women and women farmers in Nigeria.”
