Most Beautiful Farmer Lagos to Empower Farmers

Vanessa Obioha

As part of its commitment to address food insecurity and connect farmers to their consumers, Farm Junction Ltd, an innovative agriculture business, recently announced its novel concept, Most Beautiful Farmer Lagos.
The beauty pageant is one of the projects under the company’s foundation and seeks to empower farmers through diverse means including financial support and agricultural practices.

Most Beautiful Farmer Lagos is a first of its kind, targeting women with more emphasis on technical and sustainable agricultural practices than beauty.

“The beauty pageant forms the smallest part of the competition. The idea is to have women who are resident in Lagos and are involved in the agricultural value chain participate,” explained Mr Sola Rogers, the CEO of Boom Radio NG.

“There are two reasons why we decided to go this way,” said Dumebi Oluwole, Special Projects and Programs Manager, Farm Junction Ltd. “First, to ensure that we address one of the most marginalized segments of the farming industry in Nigeria. We do know that a lot of farmers in Nigeria are women, but they are also marginalised, and this is one way we can empower them and give back to them to ensure that they are able to contribute sustainably to the output of Nigeria’s agricultural sector.”

The second reason, according to her, is the overarching theme of the company, which is ensuring food availability and affordability.

More importantly, the program seeks to “make farming cool.”

Open to farmers from age 21 and above, irrespective of the scale of their production or type of farming, the pageantry will run from September 15 to October 16, 2024—culminating in a grand finale on World Food Day 2024.

“This is in conjunction with the Farmers Forum in Lagos, Lagos State Ministry of Agriculture and other agencies,” added Rogers.

Only 10 contestants will be selected for the finale, which will take place in the market, with the overall winner taking a truck worth N26 million.

Contestants who successfully pass the audition will go through a three-day close camping where they will be taught sustainable farming practices to mitigate climate change as well as modern farming techniques and other entrepreneurial skills to help them run their businesses efficiently.

The ultimate goal of the concept, according to the CEO, Farm Junction Ltd, Yinka Omogoye, is to get more people into farming.

“If we are able to get more people into farming, it will pull down the prices of food for everybody. And at the end of the day, food is affordable.”