When Propcom Mai-karfi hosted the UK’s Minister of State for Africa in Abuja.

Minister Baldwin with some beneficiaries of the Propcom Mai-karfi programme in Abuja, Nigeria.

On 15 July 2019, Propcom Mai-karfi hosted the UK’s Minister of State for Africa, Harriet Baldwin, at an exhibition in Abuja. Through the exhibition, Minister Baldwin learnt about how Propcom is innovatively contributing to reducing the effects of climate change and empowering women to increase their income and have a voice in Nigeria’s agricultural sector in the north.

During the event, Propcom Mai-karfi showcased two interventions.

Improved Cook Stove:

Our improved cookstoves intervention seeks to contribute to reducing loss of forest cover, a significant problem in Nigeria, and in the long-term reduction in emission of greenhouse gases by providing users with a better alternative to cooking with firewood. In the short-term, users also benefit from reduced fuel cost and shorter cooking time.

An important part of the intervention is the training of women as educators about and distributors of the improved cookstoves to households in rural communities, thereby providing them with a source of income. Partnering with the private sector, Propcom Mai-karfi achieves one of its objectives of linking the private sector to commercial opportunities in northern Nigeria. At the exhibition, the Minister met with the Programme’s local fabrication and distribution partners and saw the improved cookstove in action.

Poultry and Livestock Intervention:

With this intervention, Propcom Mai-karfi aims to improve the incomes of rural poultry farmers by building their capacity on improved production techniques and facilitating access to veterinary services, vaccines and formal markets. Farmers are, thus, able to increase their flock sizes by adopting improved production techniques and reducing mortality due to diseases, such as the Newcastle disease, by about ninety per cent by vaccinating their birds. These ultimately translate to increased income for the farmer.

The Minister met with Nkataa, an indigenous retailer and one of our private sector partners, through which farmers sell their chickens to high-end consumers. She also interacted with beneficiaries and got the opportunity to vaccinate a chick for the first time.