HortiNigeria trains 59,000 smallholder farmers, 2,000 agro entrepreneurs

IN a bid to achieve food and nutrition security, HortiNigeria has trained 59,000 smallholder farmers and 2000 agro-entrepreneurs on improved agricultural practice in the country.

The group programme’s Director, Mr Mohammed Salasi Idris, disclosed this last week, during a two-day learning workshop held in Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital.

Idris, who was represented by Abdullahi Umar, hinted that the programme was funded by the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Nigeria.

He explained that the project was put together to increase the productivity and income of 60,000 smallholder farmers in Kaduna and Kano, as well as pilot innovation with 2,000 entrepreneurial farmers in Ogun and Oyo States, targeting 40 percent women and 50 percent youth by the end of 2025.

Idris equally submitted that the smallholder farmers and agro-entrepreneurs trainings on good agronomic practices provided to them have yielded an increase in production by 92 percent in the various vegetable crops the programme works on.

Access to finance for MSME, improving sector coordination and business linkages were identified as some of the efforts made by HortiNigeria since the inception of the programme.

“Since November 2021, HortiNigeria has launched several initiatives across 10 value chains within the horticulture sector: cabbage, cucumber, okra, onions, pepper, sweetcorn, tomatoes and watermelon.

“As HortiNigeria moves into its last year of implementation in 2025, the programme is set to expand its reach and continue its vital work in enhancing the capabilities of smallholder farmers, agro-entrepreneurs, financial institutions and other actors within the horticulture sector,” the programme’s director added.

Idris attributed the progress made over years on the programme to the commitment of consortium partners and various commodity value chain players.

Meanwhile, as part of the effort to pilot innovations, HortiNigeria is collaborating with various business champions such as Soilless Farm Lab on biogas, which promotes waste to wealth and launched a cold storage facility at the soilless farm lab.

Farmers and other value chain actors, during the learning workshop, were also exposed to different sections of the Soilless Fam Lab at Awowo farm settlement to encourage them in innovative farming.

HortiNigeria, during its visit to Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta farm hubs, showcased the solar irrigation pump and best practices introduced promoting eco-efficient solutions.

The programme is funded by the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Nigeria and implemented by a consortium, including the International Fertiliser Development Center (IFDC), East-West Seed Knowledge Transfer (EWS-KT), Wageningen University & Research (WUR) and KIT Institute (KIT), shared significant advancements in the Nigerian horticulture sector.

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