Agriculture News and Insights

Pitch Ready – How to Sell Your Nutritious Products and Services-NCAfrica and SBN Webinar | Rural Farmers Hub| The FoodTech Programme

Nutrition Conversation Africa (NCAfrica) in partnership with the SUN Business Network, BoPInc and The AGRF Dealroom, hosted a webinar on Wednesday 6th July, themed “Pitch Ready – How to Sell Your Nutritious Products and Services”. Panelists with different areas of expertise shared insights on how to best position your SME to attract donors funds, investment, tips & tricks for successful pitching and donor support available to nutrition SMEs. The webinar was informative and engaging, we had participants from all over the world attend.

Commercialization of Biofortified Crops (CBC) -Market Activation in Kaduna|NCAfrica, SBN and AGRF Webinar-PITCH READY|World Chocolate Day

Wandieville implemented the BETA Maize marketing campaign in Central Market, Kawo Market and Zaria Market, Kaduna State to promote Vitamin A Maize as part of the Commercialization of Biofortified Crops (CBC) Project by Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN) in partnership with HarvestPlus.

NCAfrica and SUN Business Network-“Pitch Ready – How to Sell Your Nutritious Products and Services| Pitch AgriHack Competition – GoGettaz

On Wednesday 6th July, NCAfrica in partnership with the SUN Business Network will be hosting a webinar in celebration of World SME Day.
The webinar is themed “Pitch Ready – How to Sell Your Nutritious Products and Services”. The panel discussion would focus on how to position your SME to attract funds, tips & tricks for successful pitching and donor support available to nutrition SMEs.

Student Trades Okra in Northern Nigeria | Pitch AgriHack Competition – GoGettaz

Meet Abdullahi Musa, he is a student at Umaru Yar’adua University Katsina State. He also sells okra at the community Orange Market, Maraba, Karu Local Government Area, Nasarawa State. Abdullahi has been selling okra for three years, which he uses to pay his school fees and sustain his livelihood.

Providing Finance and Market Linkage to Smallholder Farmers-Dodore | Eggs Make Kids Campaign in Ogun State

Meet Gidraf Wachira, Business Development Manager at Dodore Kenya Limited. Dodore provides stakeholders access to finance through their mobile platform Agri-wallet, to help increase food production for smallholder farmers. They provide inputs to farmers and link them with off-takers for their produce.

Challenges with Selling Onions in Northern Nigeria with Habibu Abdulrahman | World Food Safety Day – Safer Food, Better Health

Meet Habibu Abdulrahman, he is married with 3 children. He lives and sells onions at the community Orange Market, Maraba, Karu Local Government Area, Nasarawa State. Habibu has been selling onions for twenty years, which he uses to sustain his family livelihood.

Nutrition in Children: A Critical Factor for Africa’s Future | Eggs Make Kids Campaign Launch in Ogun State | World Milk Day | World Environment Day

To mark World Children’s Day on Friday, 27th May, 2022, Nutrition Conversations Africa (NCAfrica) hosted a webinar themed: “Nutrition in Children: A Critical Factor for Africa’s Future” at 10:00am WAT. The panel brought together stakeholders like SMEs, Heads of Nutrition projects and Children nutrition advocates to discuss the importance of children’s nutrition, the future and current consequences of malnutrition in children and the importance of including locally available foods in the diets of young children.

Maize Trading with Sadam Haliru Dogowa | Home Gardening: More Than Just Growing Vegetables | ReelFruit’s Agro-Extension Program

Meet Sadam Haliru Dogowa, a maize trader at the community Orange Market, Karu Local Government Area, Nasarawa State. He lives in this community with his wife and child. Sadam has been selling maize for over fifteen years and solely depends on the profit from his sales for his family livelihood.

Go-Gettaz Competition | CBC-Promoting Vitamin A Cassava (BETA Cassava) – Market Activations | NCAfrica: Nutrition in Children | Biological Diversity

Meet Amanda Namayi, Gogettaz lead for generation Africa at the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa(AGRA). Gogettaz is an annual entrepreneur competition that allows talented African agripreneurs to win some funds to launch, grow and scale their business. It is also an oppurtunity to celebrate Africa’s young innovators in promoting Agriculture and transforming food systems either in their countries, in the region, or the continent at large.

Food Safety in Africa: Sustainable Solutions and Strategies | CBC-Promoting Vitamin A Cassava (BETA Cassava)-Market Activations| World Food Prize 2022

Nutrition Conversations Africa (NCAfrica) hosted a webinar recently; Topic: “Food Safety in Africa: Sustainable Solutions and Strategies” on Wednesday, 27th April 2022. The event focused on solving the large gap in awareness and knowledge on nutrition matters on the continent. NCAfrica brought together food safety experts and other stakeholders across the continent working towards providing solutions and solving nutrition issues across Africa. We discussed salient issues such as food safety policies, trainings on food safety for SMEs and consumer advocacy.

NCAfrica-Food Safety in Africa: Sustainable Solutions and Strategies | EatSafe Innovation Challenge | WAYA 2022 | International Seeds Day

Join us on Wednesday, 27th of April 2022, Nutrition Conversations Africa is having a webinar on “Food Safety Issues in Africa: Sustainable Solutions and Strategies.”

According to World Health Organization, Africa has the world’s highest per capita incidences of foodborne illness, claiming 137,000 lives and causing 91 million cases of sickness every year. Food safety and nutrition within food systems are key linkages. A population with safe and nutritious food is a healthy population which in turn results to proper growth and productivity, including economic growth. The panel session will touch on urgent issues like food safety policies, trainings on food safety for SMEs and consumer advocacy with experts in the fields such as:

1. Jane Omojokun – Managing Director, Nugata Consults Ltd;
2. Jacqueline Njonjo – Africa Lead for the Food Safety Program, IFC;
3. Professor Olugbenga Ogunmoyela – Executive Director, Consumer Advocacy for Food Safety and Nutrition Initiative (CAFSANI)
4. Dr. Augustine Okoruwa – Head, EatSafe Country Programs, GA

Challenges With Sweet Potato Trading With Dahiru Yahaya| Food Safety-NCAfrica| “GRASP” Fellowship| International Earth Day| Access to Seeds Index

Meet Dahiru Yahaya, popularly known as RSP. A 28 year old sweet potato trader in Maraba Market, Zamafara State although he lives in Nasarawa State with his wife. Dahiru has been selling sweet potatoes for the past ten years, focused on farming and trading. He has been able to take care of his family with the profits from his business.

How Digital Agriculture is Transforming our Food Systems with Desmond Koney, CEO Complete Farmer| Eggs Make Kids |CBC Marketing Campaign- Theme “BETA”

Meet Desmond Koney, CEO of Complete Farmer in Accra, Ghana. A leading agritech company that provides cutting- edge technology farming protocols and innovations with a unique business model and logistics to revolutionize farming. They are committed to creating an end-to-end digital agriculture value chain that improves efficiency and alters the established order of the broken nature of the value chain.

Challenges Accessing Farm Inputs | HelloTractor’s Innovative Pay-as-you-go Tractor Financing Model | HerVest

Meet Mama Florence Wambui Theiru, an 83 year old smallholder farmer who lives in the outskirts of Nairobi Kenya with her family. She is a dairy farmer but also grows Maize, Beans and Potatoes for her household consumption.
In this interview, Mama Florence discusses the impact of pest and disease such as maize stem borer on her farm. She talks about her challenge in accessing quality inputs and water. She believes with the right inputs and farming practice she could increase her production.

Providing Insurance for Smallholder Farmers | International Women’s Day Celebration | Generation Africa

This month we will be celebrating International Women’s Day which is March 8th by highlighting the contributions women make in the Agriculture and Nutrition sector, their work and what we can do to create a more gender-equal world. This year’s theme is “Gender equality today for a sustainable tomorrow” #Breakingthebias as confirmed by UN Women in December 2021.

According to the FAO, “female farmers account for 40% of the agricultural work force in parts of the developing world. Despite this, women face severe constraints in accessing agricultural resources and markets. This ‘gender gap’ reduces their productivity and their contribution to food security. Reducing the gender gap in Agriculture and increasing women’s access to resources such as land, finance, seed, water, education, technologies and markets will significantly help to lift rural communities out of poverty and reduce food insecurity.” So join us as we celebrate these women all through the month of March.

Tomato Trading with Zubairu Ya’u | AU Summit 2022- Year of Nutrition| YAEDP

Meet Zubairu Ya’u, a tomato trader in Orange Market, Maraba Nyanya, Nasarawa State. He lives in Nyanya community with his 2 wives and 7 children. He has been selling tomatoes for over 15 years. In this interview, Zubairu talks about where he sources the tomato varieties he sells. He discusses the profit, losses and challenges of he faces as a tomato trader. He further explains that the profit he makes from his trade is the only source of income he has to take care of his family and this has also helped him develop his maize farm in Nasarawa State. He talked about the areas where farmers like him can be assisted to make their businesses sustainable.

Seedco Mega Field Day | Nutrition Conversations Africa | Bayer Foundation

SeedCo organized a mega field event for farmers in Kaduna South, Kaduna State to showcase the possibility that exist when the right seeds are used with the right agronomic practices. They talked about the importance of using the right seed in the right environment. SC 719, SC 649, SC 651 and SC 612 maize seed varieties were showcased for farmers to see their high yielding potentials.

Eggs Make Kids Campaign | Nigeria Food Labelling and Regulations | Dr Saweda Liverpool-Tasie | NCAfrica| Remembering Wilma Aguele

Nutrition Conversations Africa (NCAfrica) is pleased to invite you to the first webinar of the year themed “Setting the Scene: Nutrition Outlook 2022”. This webinar will be held on Wednesday, 2nd February 2022 at 10am – 11am WAT (12 noon EAT). With guests from HarvestPlus, GAIN, AugustSecrests and other SME’s, the webinar seeks to explore the priority areas for the continent’s nutrition stability and offer a platform to reflect on what to look forward to in food systems transformation this year.

Groundnut Trading with Margaret Bitrus | Africa Food Prize | GIZ

Meet Margaret Bitrus, a Groundnut seller in Orange Market, Abuja. She is married with four children and has been selling groundnuts for over 8 years.

Challenges with Pepper Trading in Northern Nigeria with Rabilu Sa’adu | Happy New Year

Dear Friends,

Happy New Year!

We are excited about 2022 and we look forward to working and partnering with you to make this year impactful. As you continue to read our weekly newsletter, we promise to be consistent and provide you with stories, news, updates and highlight on our food systems. We would love to hear from you and we look forward to illuminating your work in the sector.

Wandieville| African Agriculture 2021 Highlights & Recap

Dear Friends,

As another year comes to an end, we would like to thank our clients, partners and continued loyal readers. As we reflect on the past year, we are glad to note that we have enjoyed enormous expansion and growth in 2021. We are sharing some of the highlights of our work and other stakeholders this year.

Revitalizing Fruit Farming in Nigeria| Reel Fruit

Meet Affiong Williams, founder and CEO of Reel fruit, they produce a wide range of healthy, dried fruit and nut snacks which it sells in schools, hotels and retail supermarkets across the country.
In this video, Affiong explores the mango value chain and how they plan to use industry to pull up the fruit value chain. This chicken and egg conundrum is a common complexity that plagues agribusiness in Nigeria. For ReelFruit, without consistent and quality raw materials at a predictable price, they cannot operate a factory. On the flip side, without a factory demanding fruit, farmers have no incentive to increase production and quality of raw material. She also announced the receipt of USAID grant to launch an agro-extension services program that will support over 200 Nigerian fruit farmers.

Trading Kolanut with Usar Ahammad|East West Seed Product Launch & Exhibition Highlights

Meet Usar Ahammad, widely known as the Kolanut seller. He lives with his two wives and six children in Rigasa, Kaduna State. He has been selling kolanuts for 27 years now at Bakin Dogo Central Market, Kaduna. In this interview, Usar talks about how lucrative his business was and it catered for his family. He discussed the changes in the business and the main challenge of the business such as access to finance and the economy. He also mentioned the health benefits of Kolanut and its different uses specially at ceremonies.

East West Seed Product Launch| Nigeria COVID-19 Food Security Challenge Winners|BetA

The East West Seed Product Launch & Exhibition is an hybrid event which will take place on the 26th of November, 2021 at NAF Conference Center, Abuja.

The event will exhibit and launch various East West Seed Products and feature discussions with stakeholders to proffer solutions to the challenging issues in the adoption of improved seeds in Nigeria. The event is also aimed at educating farmers to leverage on the improved seed variety opportunities available in Nigeria to enhance food production. The Product Launch, Exhibition and Seed Fair Event promises to connect all relevant actors in the agriculture value chain, physically and virtually from all over the world to brainstorm and provide workable solutions to the nation’s seed challenges and food security.

Challenges with Traditional Farming Practices | Alh Sani Dangote | East West Seed Product Launch & Exhibition

Meet Usain Babatunde, a young, energetic farmer. He lives with his wife and four children in Kwara State. He grows maize, guinea corn and sweet potatoes. He has been farming for about 15 years.

Demo Field Days: Smallholder Farmers Increase yields| East West Seed Product Launch & Exhibition

SeedCo organized a demo field event for farmers in Iseyin, Oyo State to show the benefits and potential yield of two maize varieties SC 501 (yellow maize) and SC 719 (white maize). They were educated on  proper management of seeds to ensure maximum harvest yield. Farmers who were using these seed varieties also shared their experiences using SeedCo seeds compared to the local seeds they previously used, confirming higher yields and it’s been tested and trusted.

AGRA Board Chair Speaks At Nigerian Economic Summit 2021

Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa- AGRA’s Board Chair, H.E. Hailemariam Dessalegn, was engaged in a high-profile panel discussion at the two-day Nigerian Economic Summit on Monday, October 25, 2021, in Abuja, Nigeria. The session: “Building a Secure Nigeria: Key Priorities for Economic Growth and Inclusion”, shed light on the economic, political and governance imperatives for repositioning Nigeria on the path to economic, social, political, environmental, and physical safety.

Harnessing Solar Power to Preserve Food in Busy Nigerian Markets- Nnaemeka Ikegwuonu

Meet Nnaemeka Ikegwuonu, CEO of ColdHubs. Nnaemeka is promoting zero hunger, creating affordable and clean energy, and prolonging the life of perishable food items with ColdHubs, an innovative “plug and play” modular, solar-powered walk-in cold room that offers 24 hours off-grid storage and preservation of food items for local farmers in Nigeria.

How Agtech is Reimagining Agriculture in Nigeria| CNN Market

As demand for food climbs around the world, some Nigerian tech startups are helping smallholder farmers boost output and streamline supply chains.

EGGS MAKE KIDS

Improving dietary diversity and ensuring adequate availability and intake of nutritious foods are vital to give children the best possible start in life. In Kaduna State, Nigeria, few young children meet the international standards for dietary diversity and childhood undernutrition is widespread.

Recap from the UN Food System Summit 2021

The UN Food Systems Summit took place on the 23rd September 2021. It was convened by the UN Secretary General, H.E Antonio Guterres to motivate accelerated action to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and promote an inclusive recovery of Covid-19 through the power of food.

Garri Trading With Abiodun Joseph| Nutrition Conversations Africa

Meet Abiodun Joseph Ayin, a garri trader who lives in Kaduna State. He is married with three children. He started selling garri in Gumi market Kaduna fifteen years ago.

Unveiling of the Plant Variety Protection Act| Nutrition Conversation Africa

The Unveiling of the Plant Variety Protection (PVP) Act and plans for implementation event was held in Lagos, Ibis Hotel, Ikeja on the 29th July, 2021 and in FCT, NAF Conference Center, Abuja on the 12th August, 2021 to officially unveil the PVP Act

AGRF 2021 Recap| Pathway to Recovery and Resilient Food Systems

The 2021 Africa Green Revolution Forum (AGRF) was a hybrid summit with the theme “Pathways to Recovery and Resilient Food Systems” hosted in partnership with the Government of Kenya.

Farming and Trading Irish Potatoes with Abdullahi| Bayer-Lagon Launch

Meet Abdullahi, a smallholder farmer and trader who lives in Kaduna State. He has been farming for six years and he sells Irish Potatoes at Bakin Dogo Central market in Kaduna State. He plants Irish potatoes and sometimes maize and sweet potatoes.

Beans (Cowpea) Trading with Umar Abubakar| Bayer-Lagon Product Launch|AGRF 2021

Meet Umar Abubakar, a student and beans trader. He lives in Hayin Damani and sells beans at Bakin dogo central market, Kaduna State . He learnt the trade from his father by following him to the market when he was younger.

Unveiling the Plant Variety Protection PVP Act|NCAfrica Twitter Chat

From our archives, Meet Dr. Phillip Ojo, Director General, National Agricultural Seeds Council (NASC). NASC is the Apex regulatory body for the development & regulation of the national seed industry and the implementation of the National Seed Policy in Nigeria.

Empowering Women to prevent Childhood Malnutrition with Toyin Onigbanjo

From our archives, Meet Toyin Onigbanjo, CEO of Augustsecrets. An innovative baby food company that uses indigenous food crops to create a variety of affordable food products aimed at solving malnutrition issues affecting children.

Challenges In Farming With Yakub Awolowo| UN Food System Summit

Meet Yakub Arowolo, a maize and beans farmer married with four children. He has been farming for over fifty years at Apata-koto, Ori-eru, Asa Local Government Area in Kwara State, Nigeria.

Challenges in Trading Irish Potato with Umaru Abbas| NCAfrica

Meet Umaru Abbas, an Irish Potato trader married with seven children. He lives in Rigasa, Kaduna State. He has been selling Irish potatoes for over twenty-five years at Bakin dogo market in Kaduna State. He is also the chairman of the Irish potato sellers’ association, Kaduna.

Launch of Nutrition Conversations Africa (NCAfrica)!!!

It’s happening today!!!

Join us at the Launch of Nutrition Conversations Africa (NCAfrica). An advocacy platform aimed at illuminating African nutritional challenges and opportunities, transformative ideas and game changing solutions through continuous conversations, call to action, advocacy support and engagement to curb malnutrition in Africa.

Farming Challenges with Abdulrahim Bello|Nutrition Conversations Africa

Meet Abdulrahim Bello, a smallholder farmer married with five children. He has been farming for 55 years at Reke in Afon Local Government Area, Kwara State. He plants maize, rice, beans, soyabeans, cucumbers, sweet potatoes and jute leaves.

Intercropping and High Cost of Farm Labor with Usman Gamiu

Meet Usman Gamiu, a smallholder farmer married with three children. He has been farming for seven years at Apata koto Ori-eru in Asa Local Government Area, Kwara State. He plants rice and maize.

Capacity Building for Smallholder farmers with Suleiman Dikwa

From our archives….Meet Suleiman Dikwa, CEO of Green Sahara Farms Limited. A full-scope agricultural enterprise company engaged in farming, development, facilitation and management of businesses within the Agriculture Industry. They provide primary processing for offtakers and training for cluster farmers

Fruit and Vegetable Farming with Oluborode Bolakale, Farmer

Meet Oluborode Bolakale, a farmer married with three daughters. He has been farming for nine years at the National Horticultural Research Institute (NIHORT) Commercial, Ile-tuntun, Ibadan, Oyo State. He plants vegetables such as cabbages, lettuces, carrot and fruits such as cucumber, aubergines, karela and bell peppers.

Vegetable Farming with Ogunmekan Oluwaseun, Smallholder Farmer|Launch of Nutrition Conversations Africa

Meet Ogunmekan Oluwaseun, he is married with a child and he has been farming for 15years. He plants vegetables such as cucumber, lettuce, carrot and tomatoes. He is also a beneficiary farmer of National Horticultural Research Institute (NIHORT), Oyo State, Nigeria.

Challenges and Opportunities in the Dairy Sector with Alh. M.D Abubakar | Celebrating World Milk Day 🎉🎉🎉

Meet Alh. M.D Abubakar, Founder and Managing Director of L&Z integrated Farms based in Kano, Nigeria. He has been operating in the Dairy sector for over 24 years and he is involved in the entire Dairy Value Chain, from production to marketing. They produce fresh milk, yoghurt, fura-da-nono, ice cream and chicken.

Nigeria’s President Signs PVP Bill into Law| SUN Business Network

President Muhammadu Buhari has signed the Plant Variety Protection (PVP) Bill into law. Stakeholders in the agricultural sector had described the absence of the PVP, which protects the intellectual property of varieties developed by breeders and farmers as the bane of investment and progress in the sector.

School Based Agricultural Education with Trent McKnight, Founder of AgriCorps

Meet Trent McKnight, the founder of AgriCorps and The Movement for School-Based Agricultural Education (SBAE), an agricultural development initiative focused on sub-Saharan Africa. He has served as an agricultural economist to the US Military in Iraq and the World Food Program in Liberia. He is a cattle rancher, a former member of the Texas 4-H Council and a former national president of the Future Farmers of America (FFA).

EatSafe Project- Food Safety in Informal Markets with Dr. Augustine Okoruwa

Meet Dr. Augustine Okoruwa, Head of EatSafe Country Program in Nigeria. EatSafe which means Evidence and Action towards Safe Nutritious Food is a project aimed at strategizing and enabling lasting improvement in the safety of nutritious food in the informal market with a focus on the consumer.

High Level Dialogue on Feeding Africa 2021: Leadership to Scale Up Innovations

Yewande Kazeem, CEO of Wandieville Media and Yvonne Otieno, Chief Executive Officer, Miyonga Fresh Greens Ent Ltd, Kenya, both spoke to African Presidents on behalf of African youths on Leveraging existing and successful innovations.

Commodity Trading and Unlocking Finance with Ayodeji Balogun

Meet Ayodeji Balogun, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of AFEX Commodities Exchange Limited. AFEX is the first private sector commodities exchange, an agricultural, finance and technology-based exchange company. They provide solutions to challenges faced by Nigerian smallholder farmers such as aggregation, storage, financial inclusion as well as providing a readily available market for both farmers and buyers.

Ban of Raw Cocoa Export in Ghana with Bright Debrah Adjei

Meet Bright Debrah Adjei, Private Consultant in Cocoa Production and Franchise Holder, Ecom Ghana. He has over 7 years’ experience in the cocoa value chain specifically exporting cocoa in raw form. From purchasing, grading, sealing, evacuation to the port and storing verified dried cocoa beans.

Increasing Smallholder Farmers Income Through Planting New Maize Varieties With Dr. Sylvester Oikeh

Meet Dr. Sylvester Oikeh, Project Manager at African Agricultural Technology Foundation (AATF). A technology foundation addressing food security issues in sub-Saharan Africa through drought-tolerant and insect-resistant maize varieties. They are providing access to agricultural technology for smallholder farmers to boost food productivity and commercialization.

Business models that drives food productivity with Dr. Florence Wambugu

Meet Dr Florence Wambugu, Founder and CEO of Africa Harvest, an organization improving the lives of smallholder farmers in rural communities through mechanization and dissemination of research & technology. Smallholder farmers have been able to deliver 49,000MT of sorghum worth 4.9 million USD to offtakers with the help of Africa Harvest and other partners.

How Private Sector can address Nutrition Challenges with Monica Musonda

Meet Monica Musonda, Founder and CEO of Java Foods, a food processing company based in Zambia that provides affordable nutritious food to the Southern African Market. She spearheads the global nutrition efforts for the scaling of nutrition lead group and she sits on the global advisory board for the Scaling Up Nutrition SUN business network. She won the 2017 African Agribusiness Entrepreneur of the year award, 2013 World Economic Forum Young Global leader, 2013 Desmond Tutu Leadership Fellow, Forbes and Africa Investor named her as one of the leading Young Power Women in Business in Africa in 2013 and 2014.

Access to Seeds Index, WBA with Alice Ingabire

Meet Alice Ingabire, Lead, Access to Seeds Index, one of the benchmarks for the World Benchmarking Alliance (WBA) which was set out to develop transformative benchmarks that would compare companies’ performance to the SDGs. In this Interview, Alice discusses the Access to Seeds Index, its objectives and goals. She talked about the methodology used to measure the seeds index, the focus on SDG2, Zero hunger, food security and promoting nutrition.

Food Entrepreneurs in Africa: Scaling Resilient Agriculture Businesses with Ndidi Nwuneli

Meet Ndidi Nwuneli, Co-Founder of AACE Foods, Managing Partner at Sahel Consulting and Board Chair at Nourishing Africa. She has over 23 years’ experience in International Development. In this Interview, Ndidi talks about why it’s critical for African Food Entrepreneurs to work together, own and transform their Food System. She mentioned how COVID-19 has exposed the fragilities of our food system and why the nutritious foods are important.

Food Blockade Crisis with Mr. Kabir Ademoh| Seed for Change

Meet Mr. Kabir Ademoh, the Local Coordinator for the Seed for Change program in Nigeria. The Seed4Change program is a private sector development program sponsored by the Dutch government and other private partners. It is also implemented by the Netherlands African Business Council (NABC). In this interview, Mr. Kabir talks about the activities of the Seed4Change program which aims at improving horticulture in the private and public sector. He also talked about market linkages and how the food blockade crisis is affecting farmers in the north.

Mr. Solomon Iliah, a smallholder farmer discusses the need for fertilizer| WBA Food and Agriculture Benchmark

Meet Mr. Solomon Iliah and his daughter Grace Iliah. Solomon farms rice, soya beans, guinea corn and maize while his nineteen years old daughter Grace, is a soya beans farmer in Sanga Local Government Area of Kaduna state. In this interview, Solomon and Grace discuss how they began farming and why their family is passionate about agriculture. They explain how lack of funds and access to fertilizers affects their family food consumption.

Agro-Processing and Value Chain Opportunities in Africa

Wandieville had the opportunity to partner with Hilltop Global Group and other stakeholders to discuss Agro-Processing and Value Chain Opportunities in Africa with the Harvard Business School “Entrepreneurship in Africa” class – HarvardX. This session featured a presentation by Mr. Emmanuel Siaw and Yewande Kazeem.

Closing the Seed Demand Gap while ensuring access to Improved seed varieties to achieve food security

With an estimated national seed demand of 350,000 metric tons per annum and production level less than a quarter of the national demand, the National Agricultural Seeds Council (NASC) is committed to building resilient seed systems that ensures efficient production, supply and easy farmers’ access to seeds.

Maize FX Ban and its Impact on the Poultry Industry with Onallo S AKPA |DG, Poultry Association of Nigeria (PAN)

Meet Mr. Onallo S Akpa, Director General of the Poultry Association of Nigeria (PAN). He has been in the poultry industry for over 30 years. In this interview, Mr. Onallo talks about the market challenges, the shocking rate at which the prices of maize and soya are increasing and how this is greatly impacting the poultry farmers negatively, forcing many to close down.

Making Money Growing Vegetables

Meet Abdullai Salisu, a 16 years old smallholder vegetable farmer from Igabi Local Government Area, Kaduna. Abdullahi plants tomatoes and onions, sometimes he plants maize and yam on his farmland given to him by his father. In this interview, Abdullai talks about tomato farming and how to minimize post-harvest lost.

SEEDCODEX

In Nigeria, many families solely depend on crop farming for the provision of their basic needs. However, lack of access to quality seeds has affected crop productivity, making it difficult to guarantee production and for families to adequately meet their basic needs. Over the years, smallholder farmers have lost millions of naira due to fake seeds. More than 50 per cent of crop seeds sold in the country are sub-standard and sometimes fake. Farmers have complained about the exposure to illegal seed practices, including fake seeds, fraudulent labelling and regulatory offences.

Real Story… Real people!!!

The story changed in 2019, when the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) through the Partnership for Inclusive Agricultural transformation in Africa (PIATA) trained three co-operative groups on proper spraying activities in Markarfi. Mustapha Shuaibu, a community-based facilitator said the selection process involved a lot of research, the youths in the cooperatives were also

Real Story… Real people!!!

Meet Aliyu Ibrahim, a smallholder farmer from Zaria, Kaduna state. He has been a maize farmer for 15years and he sometimes grows soya bean and rice. In this interview, Aliyu takes us through his farming journey, adopting improved seed varieties while using Good Agricultural Practices. He talked about the impact of climate change on farms and how improved seeds were able to help mitigate these challenges.

Real Story… Real people!!!

As the year comes to an end, we reflect on the past year. The COVID-19 pandemic continues to impact our lives, health, way of living and yet it is the biggest disruption in our food systems. Despite its implications, the food and agriculture sector has worked tirelessly to build back better, created opportunities to innovate, build resilience and have broader global discussions.

Real Story… Real people!!!

Meet Aliyu Ibrahim, a smallholder farmer from Zaria, Kaduna state is a maize farmer but occasionally grows soya bean and rice. He has been farming for 15 years. In this interview, Aliyu takes us through his journey so far in adopting Improved Seed Varieties and using Good Agricultural Practices. He discussed the activities that have been carried out on the farm according to the farming practices

Real Story… Real people!!!

Meet Aliyu Ibrahim, a smallholder farmer from Zaria, Kaduna state. He is a maize farmer but occasionally grows soya bean and rice. He has been farming for 15 years. In this interview, Aliyu takes us through his journey of adopting Improved Seed Varieties and using Good Agricultural Practices.

The SeedConnect Digital Series 2020 was a success!

The first day of the webinar was held on Thursday 19th November 2020 and anchored by Ms. Wandie Kazeem, CEO, Wandieville Media. It began with a welcome address by Dr. Philip Ojo, Director General, NASC. He stated that he was pleased that the SeedConnect Conference is gaining momentum in the.