AFEX, Kaduna WEE Project, Empowers Female Farmers on Agriculture Practices

Oyebisi Maria

AFEX, leading commodities player in Africa, concluded a sensitization campaign aimed at empowering female farmers in northern Nigeria.

The sensitization, which took place in Kaduna, forms a part of the WEE Women Economic Project, an initiative driving inclusion for women in rural Nigeria, with a focus on providing essential resources to increase capacity and food productivity in the country.

The WEE Project, which is a three-year pilot initiative funded by the Bayer Foundation, focuses on increasing women’s power and influence by removing barriers to work, enabling decent work, and supporting women’s enterprises in order to help women and girls thrive in the economy.

Leveraging existing partnerships in health and agriculture to create a sustainable model for women’s economic empowerment, the project focuses on improving access to agricultural inputs, expanding market opportunities, and providing adequate health services.

Today in Nigeria, women farmers produce 30% less per hectare than their male counterparts, owing to the fact that they use fewer inputs and have limited participation in extension services, farm less-valuable crops, and hire less productive labor.

In addition to this, women in rural areas are more likely to be excluded from financial services, as the World Bank reports that 37% of women versus 46% men are banked in developing countries.

The 2-day sensitization campaign carried out by AFEX in Kafanchan, Kaduna, brought together key partners from Kaduna State Women economic empowerment project, Advantage health Africa, Healthy Entrepreneurs, Jennifer Etuh foundation and female farmer cooperatives to discuss the various opportunities available to them through the WEE project.

Several female farmers were onboarded on AFEX’s technology platform, WorkBench, and trained on global agriculture practices, crop management and crop mitigation strategies. Attendees also had the opportunity to learn about the different offers from participating partners and to ask questions about how to get involved.

Present at the event, Kamaldeen Raji, Managing Director, AFEX fair Trade, said “AFEX is committed to supporting the development of sustainable agricultural value chains in Africa, and we believe that empowering women farmers is essential to achieving this goal.

The WEE Project offers a unique opportunity to leverage our expertise in agricultural commodity trading and market access to help women farmers in Nigeria overcome the challenges they face. By providing them with the tools and resources they need to succeed, we can contribute to a more inclusive and equitable agricultural sector.”

Also present at the event was Mobolaji Adesanya, Project Coordinator, kaduna WEE Project, who added, “We are excited with the success already recorded in this program. This sensitization campaign by AFEX, was a great opportunity to connect with women farmers in our community.

As we prepare to hit our target of transforming the lives of 30,000 female farmers, it is important that we emphasize the place of public private partnerships to accelerate progress. By working closely with stakeholders like AFEX, we will ensure that interventions are tailored to the specific needs and challenges faced by women farmers in rural areas.”

AFEX is a platform business that enables efficient trade for commodities in Africa. Solutions start at producer level, ensuring improvement in productivity and livelihoods while building up commodity volumes in the right quality and quantity for local and regional trade.

Operating through 3 business entities, AFEX addresses the challenges faced by smallholder farmers, providing better access to inputs, credit facilities, micro-insurance, storage services, training, and markets. Partnership with different key players across the agricultural value-chain, including processors, logistics service providers, financial institutions, and regulatory authorities, makes our goal of supporting Africa’s food security possible.

A range of clients and members also trade physical commodities and commodity contracts through AFEX’s technology platforms as AFEX continuously bridges the gap between the capital market and the commodities market; unlocking finance for production, trade, processing and export of commodities