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By Ahmed Ali, Kafanchan
The Women Farmers Advancement Network (WOFAN) ICON 2 project, in collaboration with Palm Valley Nigeria Ltd (PVNL), organized a stakeholder engagement in Jaba and Kagarko local government areas of Kaduna State.
The meeting focused on providing updates about the project and discussing sustainability models to ensure its long-term success.
In his opening remarks, Mr. Ezekiel Jatau, the Project Manager of the ICON 2 project and CEO of Palm Valley Nigeria Ltd, (PVNL) emphasized the importance of collaboration and strategic planning with stakeholders to sustain the project.
Represented by Samson Reuben, the Monitoring and Evaluation Officer at PVNL, Mr. Jatau highlighted that Palm Valley Nigeria has established processing centers across nine local government areas in Kaduna State.
He stated, “It’s a five-year project with the first three years dedicated to production and the remaining two years focused on processing.”
The event featured speeches from key figures, including Kaduna State Team 1 leader, Ivaren Igbudu, and State Team 2 leader, Nana Blessing Sarki. They discussed strategies to tackle challenges in production, processing, and market linkage.
Mrs. Ivaren encouraged the women farmers to utilize the training and equipment provided to maintain high production standards.
She noted that over 10,000 farmers in Jaba and Kagarko LGAs were trained and empowered in 2024, with plans to expand the initiative in 2025.
Mrs. Sarki added that WOFAN has engaged 35,000 farmers with the support of over 500 extension workers in Kaduna State for the ICON 2 project.
She further explained that 933 cooperatives were trained and equipped with processing tools and agricultural inputs, which are expected to grow and multiply over the next five to ten years.
Community leaders, including the District Head of Kurmin Dangana, Bawa Giwa, and the Village Head of Kenyi, Peter Digga, also spoke at the event.
They urged the women to fully embrace the project, emphasizing that doing so could help alleviate food shortages in their communities and across the country.
They expressed their gratitude to the organizers for their efforts in supporting women through farming.
To ensure the project’s sustainability, stakeholders brainstormed various strategies, including building trust among cooperative members, fostering a culture of maintenance, establishing disciplinary committees, taking legal action against equipment mishandling, and ensuring continuous supervision by the organizers.
The WOFAN-ICON2 Project is a five-year initiative funded by the Mastercard Foundation, aiming to enhance the quality of life and economic empowerment of 675,000 young small-scale farmers and agripreneurs and their families across nine states in Nigeria.
This project aligns with the Mastercard Foundation’s Young Africa Works (YAW) strategy, which seeks to enable 30 million young people in Africa, particularly young women, to secure dignified and fulfilling employment by 2030.
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