Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) on Wednesday launched an agro-processing center in Sabon Gari Kahuta, Kauru Local Government Area of Kaduna State, where it forecasted to generate N182,9 million in revenue in the first fiscal year.
The Kahuta Multipurpose Processing Venture is an agro-processing center established as a critical component of the AGRA intervention program.
The intervention project is titled “Enhancing resilience and upscaling of a gender-inclusive rural economy for increased productivity, livelihoods, and food security.
It is aimed at increasing productivity for 50,000 smallholder women and youth farmers, strengthening access to output markets at scale, and increasing the capacity of smallholder farming households and value chain actors to better prepare and adapt to shocks and stresses.
The project is being implemented by a consortium called AGRA Gender Consortium, made up of Value Seeds Limited (VSL), the lead partner of the project with core delivery on production.
Palm Valley Nigeria Limited (PVNL), a member of the consortium, is in charge of implementing the value-added, enterprise development and financial inclusion section, and legal Awareness for Nigerian Women (LANW) on advocacy component.
Speaking at the event, the Country Director for AGRA in Nigeria, Mr. Rufus Idris, said they were focused on contributing to the progress and sustenance of the inclusive food system transformation happening in the country.
He added that AGRA, Nigeria, was poised to ensure accelerated income for smallholder farmers and the public to have access to affordable and nutritious food.
In doing that, he said, it goes beyond supporting the productivity level, which they were doing in terms of helping farmers access seeds, knowledge, finance, and working with the government to ensure enabling policies.
Idris, however, said that Nigerians experience a lot of post-harvest losses, which informed the establishment of the agro-processing center in Kahuta to enable the women to add value to what they are producing.
“It will enable them to add value to what they are producing. Doing so will increase their income, access a better market that will pay them a premium share of the cost of their produce, and also help reduce post-harvest losses in the country.
“We ultimately believe that by empowering women, youths, and farmers in different areas of the country, they should take ownership of the whole process of their farm produce from harvests, he said.
Speaking further, Idris said that situating the agricultural processing center in Kauru was because the farmers there have the comparative advantage of producing rice and maize.
He added that AGRA has been working with the community since 2022 in various areas to enhance agriculture.
“The women there also operated a savings scheme to raise money to attract financing; we saw the commitment and willingness in them to make sure this happened.
“The processing center is not purely an AGRA-funded project; they also brought in their equity commission to make it work,Idris said.
According to the Country Director, if Nigeria could address hunger and poverty issues, it could impact sub-Saharan Africa, where farming could be the ultimate lead.
He expressed optimism that the project would be sustained, adding that the women underwent training in farming, entrepreneurship, how to manage businesses, and financial literacy, among others.
Also, the Programme Officer for AGRA in Kaduna, Dr. Esther Ibrahim, explained that the women in Kahuta were hitherto operating a welfare group.
She said, ”They were making contributions for ceremonies, and they embraced Village Savings and Loan Associations (VSLA) as soon as it was introduced.”
Ibrahim, who doubles as the Programme Officer overseeing AGRA’s gender consortium intervention in Nigeria, said the women received training on the operation and management of VSLA.
She stated that seven groups of 25 members were formed, registered, and linked to financial institutions.
Ibrahim commended the women for their resilience, time, cooperation, and resources in ensuring that the project was done.
She called on the state government to replicate the project with other LGAs in the state to guarantee food security and ensure the self-reliance of youth and women.
Also, Project Manager of Palm Valley Nigeria Limited (PVNL), Mr. Philip Kachina, said that the Kahuta multipurpose processing venture was being managed by a carefully selected and employed team.
He added that the management would be responsible for setting and meeting targets on a monthly, quarterly, and yearly basis, while the day-to-day operations of the organization would be the responsibility of the cooperating associations.
“This team shall develop products based onthe exigency of time, design, and set procedures for
timely and quality service delivery, effective control of operations, and coordinate all activities carried out by the organization to ensure profitability and sustained growth, he said.
Kachina also said that like every other business, the agro-processing center was established to generate income via rice parboiling and milling services, sales of milled rice, and packaged byproducts.
Other services are rice de-stoning and polishing services, storage facilities ,maize milling services, and revenue through sales of rice husk (briquettes) and a composite of waste to renewable energy.
“The Kahuta multi-purpose processing venture is fore castor generate income from those sources because of it strategic location, high-performing equipment, well trained managers and a friendly pricing regime.
“The enterprise is projected on all factors being equal, such assessable economic growth and strong competitors offering the same services and products in the same location to generate NN182,870,000 (USD234,448.72) in the first fiscal year,” Kachina said.
Speaking on behalf of the women, Mrs. Paulina Emmanuel said women in local communities were now taking up the burden of household and family responsibilities.
She, therefore, pledged that the project, which was achieved through their support and resilience, would not be left abandoned.
Emmanuel thanked AGRA and all the critical stakeholders who ensured the realization of the project.
The event had in attendance representatives of the Emir of Kauru and LGA Chairman, the Kaduna Agriculture Development Agency (KADA), Value Seed Limited, and Legal Awareness for Nigerian Women (LANW), among other key stakeholders.
