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Boosting economic growth

Empowering women farmers in Nigeria

Opening new opportunities for women is a key to development, as well to strengthen efforts to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by 2015. In Nigeria, where cultural attitudes and traditional beliefs often circumscribe women’s roles and hinder access to training and education, a women’s project is changing lives.

The initiative supported by the Japan Women-in-Development Fund, established in cooperation with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), is helping women farmers improve their livelihoods. The project is implemented by the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) and several Nigerian NGOs.

Women in the Onna Local Government Area in the Niger Delta are receiving technical support through the project to improve cassava production and processing. Cassava tuber roots look similar to a sweet potato and are rich in carbohydrates. The leaves provide about the same amount of protein as an egg. Cassava is processed into high-quality starch, flour and animal feed, and is also used to make products such as paper and gum. The crop is often grown by poor women farmers in Africa, and frequently on marginal land.

The crop is vital for both food security and income generation, especially with rising food commodity prices hitting developing countries hard. Nigeria is the world’s largest producer of cassava, and the Federal government has set up a presidential initiative to promote cultivation of the crop. The women’s initiative builds on this.

An International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) station in the area has supported the effort by facilitating training workshops on cultivation and processing methods, and providing cassava stems to plant, as well as processing equipment. The local community council donated land for equipment storage.

Women farmers and their families are benefitting from higher crop yields and higher earnings from the sale of cassava products. The project also offers training in economic decision-making and technical and entrepreneurship skills. The network of partners involved, from the local to the international level, are helping women in Nigeria gain a brighter future.