From:Femi Oyelola in Kaduna
A group under the auspices of Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) has launched an integrated market systems intervention aimed at enhancing the productivity and competitiveness of 100,000 smallholder farmers in the Maize-Soybeans Farming System in Kaduna and Niger states.
The three-year project, funded by AGRA and implemented by the Sasakawa Africa Association (SAA), AFEX, Premier Seeds, and Da-Allgreen Seeds Limited, is designed to build a sustainable market system that ensures farmers can make a continuous profit and afford improved inputs after the project ends in 2028.
The initiative, with the theme “Enhancing the Productivity and Competitiveness of Smallholder Farmers in the Maize-Soybeans Farming System in Kaduna and Niger States,” kicked off with an inception meeting in Kaduna yesday, bringing together all key stakeholders in both private and public sectors.
In her remark during the meeting, the Program Director for AGRA, Esther Ibrahim, emphasized the project’s alignment with national and State goals, including its focus on treating farming as a business to sustain the livelihoods of farmers.
“Farmers have always been producing, but we are here to strengthen that and ensure they make more money from this venture. Our work is to build their competitiveness against the high cost of inputs and allow them to have their stakes in the gain.”
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