International Donors Maui Support for Women MSMEs in Agriculture

Fadekemi Ajakaiye 

International donors may support women borrowers and micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) that are involved in agricultural production, processing, and trade.

The Chief of Party, Cultivating New Frontiers in Agriculture (CNFA), an international empowerment organisation, Olumide Ojo said there was need to lift incomes and create jobs by supporting women MSMEs that are involved in the livestock industry with better feed and fodder production technologies.

Ojo stated this at a consultative forum that was held by African Women in Animal Resources Farming and Agribusiness Network  Nigeria (AWARFA-N), which had in attendance representatives of United States Agency for International Development (USAID), Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), and the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD). 

Ojo said CNFA has been leading the USAID Feed the Future Agribusiness Investment Activity, adding that this aligns with the African Union InterAfrican Bureau for Animal Resources (AU-IBAR) and the African Union InterAfrican Bureau for Animal Resources (AU-IBAR) goal of improving food security, and helping women to access finance, training, and markets.

He said, “IFAD has provided about $23 billion in grants and low-interest loans since 1978 to country-led projects that invest in and empower rural people.”

The Chairperson, African Women in Animal Resources Farming and Agribusiness Network (AWARFA- N), Dr Chinyere Ikechukwu- Eneh said the federal government would make great progress in its efforts to achieve the goals of the food security implementation plan by involving more women. 

Ikechukwu- Eneh said, “The ultimate aim of AWARFA-N is to reach a greater number of women and  provide entrepreneurship opportunities for them.”

According to her, “The potential of the livestock industry is yet to translate into enormous business  job opportunities, and that carries enormous implications, namely forfeited economic growth.

“Addressing this gap will  be the priority of the organisation’s engagement with international development partners in the bid to put the country on a sustainable path to economic recovery and prosperity.

“Moving forward, the organisation will prioritise a comprehensive approach toward removing the barriers to women’s participation in the agribusiness.”

She said AWARFA-N is the Nigerian Chapter of the African Women in Animal Resources Farming and Agribusiness Network. AWARFA-N was established by the African Union Inter African Bureau for Animal Resources in Cairo, Egypt in July 2018. The members cut across the different value chains such as; dairy, poultry, aquaculture, apiculture, small ruminants, piggery and related crops that serve as raw materials for animal feed. The objective is to identify investment opportunities for women-led enterprises in livestock, fisheries, aquaculture and apiculture value chains.

The participants at the forum discussed financing support for domestic food production, reduction of food security challenges arising from economic, climate, and  political uncertainties.

According to the Team Lead (CTL) of the FAO Emergency Centre for Transboundary Animal Diseases (FAO-ECTAD), Dr Otto Vianney Muhinda, the UN organisation support projects focus on limiting women’s economic potential.

Muhinda said strengthening feed and fodder support was critical to Nigeria’s food supply and overall economy and women, by giving them greater access to financial resources, quality farming inputs and market access.

The FAO, he said, “Acknowledges women’s work and increased opportunities for them in the sector can significantly impact agriculture-driven growth.”