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Solar-Powered Irrigation, an Affordable and Cleaner Alternative for Rural Farmers

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Only 1% of Nigeria’s farmlands are irrigated. This means that farmers, mostly smallholders, do their farming during the rainy season. Unfortunately, this dependence on rainfed agriculture makes farmers vulnerable to variations in weather.

In 2020, Propcom Mai-karfi went into partnership with Bols N Sels and others to pilot a business model to promote the adoption of solar-powered irrigation technologies through its Solar Irrigation intervention. Thus, giving smallholder farmers access to affordable irrigation services, reducing their dependence on rainfall, and allowing for year-round farming. It also eliminates the high costs associated with fossil fuel-powered pumps and their resultant emission of green-house gases.

Doris Obed, a 65-year-old smallholder rice farmer from Karim Lamido Local Government Area of Taraba State, was one of the early adopters of the solar-powered pumps provided by Bols N Sels. Her motivation for acquiring the solar-powered pump was the increasingly
prohibitive cost she incurred for fueling and maintaining the fossil fuel-powered pump she previously used to irrigate her farm.

Using the old technology [fossil-powered pump] was not effective for me because I spent more on fueling and servicing.

According to Doris, converting to a solar-powered pump was the best decision she could have made for her farm as the solar pump has proved to be more durable than the fuel powered one she had been using and has helped her save money she would have otherwise
used for fueling, servicing, and replacing parts for her former pump. Of greater import is the yield Doris says she has obtained from her farmland due to better irrigation obtained with the solar pump, which has positively impacted her income overall.

…I have saved more money which would have been used for fueling or unnecessary maintenance leading to higher volume of water for and better yield from the farm.

The solar-powered pumps worked seamlessly and did not break down or require frequent repairs unlike the fossil-fuelled pumps that frequently broke down and would be inoperable for hours or days even. Along with improved yield and cost savings, Doris saved time from using the solar pump since she had little or no downtime irrigating with it. Based on her estimation, with solar irrigation she spends
less time preparing and transplanting her rice farm.

…before acquiring this new technology, I spent 5 weeks for land preparation and 3 weeks for transplanting but now I spend only about 3 weeks for land preparation and less than 2 weeks for transplanting.

Doris Obed inspects one of her farms in Taraba State. Photo credit: Propcom Mai-karfi

Doris has not kept the pump to herself. She has started a business providing irrigation services to other farmers who are incapable of procuring pumps for themselves. This way the whole community benefits. She has also assisted another farmer to procure the pump by linking him to the vendor.

It [the solar pump] has improved my status in the community. They call me ‘Comi’ meaning irrigation farmer in the community.

At the household level, Doris used additional income from using the solar pump to finance the roofing of a housing project she had been working. She also credits the pump for extra income she used to expand her farmland and employ more farm hands. Doris is content and happy with her investment in the solar pump.

“I don’t have to buy and transport fuel to the farm, labour costs have reduced, no noise and air pollution anymore. I increased my farm size. started another, and increased my employees, thanks to this new technology. I am indeed grateful and happy.”

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Empowering Women is Empowering the Community

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It is 2021 and women still face significant challenges that hold them back from attaining their potential. Compared to men, women have less access to education and financial institutions, have fewer economic opportunities, face more challenges starting a business, are fewer in leadership positions, and feature less prominently in politics. Economic empowerment of women has been shown to foster gender equality, help women realise their rights, and improve economies. Essentially, when women and girls are empowered, the community is better for it. This is why women’s economic empowerment is an integral part of Propcom Mai-karfi’s strategy.

Propcom Mai-karfi’s poultry production and marketing intervention is focused on helping women acquire skills to transform their local chicken practices into viable businesses, thus, economically empowering them to become resilient to climate change and other shocks.

When Caroline Heniel, a Teacher in Demsa Community in Adamawa State, participated in Propcom Mai-karfi’s local chicken improved production (LoCIP) training, she never thought that over a year later her and a handful of like-minded women who met at the training would be empowered to the point of supporting their community. Sindam Machet cooperative, meaning ‘We are one’, was formed by Caroline and the other women with the primary aim of helping one another and their community. Caroline leads the cooperative and is helped by 20 other women officials; today, they are 250 member-strong and growing.

The decision to form a group started with ten women [at the training] who felt they could make an impact in their community. It gradually became a welcome idea for all the women.

Members of the Sinham Machet cooperative. Caroline Heniel is the sitting, first from the right. Photo credit: Alfred Coker for Propcom Mai-karfi

A patient receiving treatment is shown with other women in the dilapidated community centre before repairs. Photo credit: Propcom Mai-karfi.

The community health centre in Demsa LGA of Adamawa State has been in a deplorable state for as long Caroline can remember. The year was 2019 and it did not seem like anyone was going to do anything about it. This was where the community received medical services. It was, therefore, a shame that it had become a place where most people would avoid if they had a choice. Unfortunately, they did not and so continued to manage it with its leaky roof and lack of furnishings and other amenities.

For over two years, Propcom Mai-karfi has been training women on LoCIP. For Caroline and the other women, putting to practise knowledge from the training yielded and continues to yield results; their flock sizes increased, and their chickens were weightier than ever before. Since repairing the community centre was a goal shared by many, if not all, members of the cooperative, it was unsurprising that once they began generating income from their chickens, they decided to renovate it. Thus, ensuring that the community also benefitted from their success.

The motivation to start came as an aftermath of the training when we started seeing results from applying knowledge acquired. We discovered that from one chicken, we multiplied our flock size within a short period of time. We were able to sell and use the proceeds to support our families. We were also able to support other members of the group who did not have capital to start.

To fund the renovation project, the cooperative pooled resources within the group. Each member was tasked with selling one of their chickens and contributing between NGN500 and NGN1,000 from their proceeds to the project. Upon raising some funds, the project kicked off in August of 2019. However, due to the Pandemic and the ensuing lockdown in 2020, the project had to be put on hold. But, once the lockdown was lifted, work continued in earnest. According to Caroline, the Cooperative has so far disbursed over NGN100,000 to repair the clinic and make it conducive for both the users and service providers.

One of the walls of the community centre before repairs. Photo credit: Propcom Mai-karfi

Although the women raised most of the funds, they were able to harness support from members of the community, including the community leader who contributed NGN5,000, and the ward heads who collectively gave NGN13,000 to the project. Many young men in the community also volunteered to provide labour for the project. Nevertheless, embarking on the project was not without challenges. Albeit all members agreed that the project was worthwhile and overdue, convincing all members to contribute was arduous as some members out rightly refused to chip in. Work continued nonetheless with the funds that had been raised.   

We received support from the community leader and ward heads who made monetary contributions for the renovation. Also, the men in the community, especially the youth, helped to clear the bush and do some minor labour.

The Demsa Community Health Centre after repairs by the Cooperative. Photo credit: Alfred Coker for Propcom Mai-karfi

Even though there still remains work to be done, today, the community health centre is in a much better state and members of the community are pleased and happy to use it. The Cooperative is still raising funds to finish the repairs and to purchase basic furnishings and other necessary items for the centre. They hope to raise enough chickens to sell and raise the funds and are confident that they will soon have enough to commence the next phase of the repairs.

The community is very appreciative, and wherever they meet us they say, ‘thank you for what you have done at the clinic’. We feel very happy about it and encouraged to do more. This is our first project as a group. We are still making plans. We have identified the need for bedsheets and chairs for visitors, and we also want to buy benches, bedsheets, and any other need for the clinic. We are not yet a registered group but want to start the process this year.

The future looks promising for the Cooperative. They are working towards becoming a legally registered cooperative, which will make potential donors take them seriously. They are also looking forward to engaging in more community projects.

Since commencement of the LoCIP trainings, Propcom Mai-karfi has trained over 65,000 rural women across Northern Nigeria and counting. These women have collectively generated over NGN400 million in revenue.

The LoCIP training has really empowered us. The training helped us to know that chicken production is a good source of income, we are able to buy goats, cloths, food from the market. It has really helped us. Thank you Propcom Mai-karfi, we are very thankful for the support. – Charity Anthony Assistant Leader

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Renewed Hope as a Result of PPR Vaccination

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Majority of the inhabitants of rural communities in Northern Nigeria, largely depend on agriculture as their main source of income. This is also true for women who depend on the rearing of small ruminants and poultry as their primary source of income. Small ruminants and poultry farmers are faced with two major diseases – Peste des Petits Ruminants (PPR) and New Castle Disease (NCD). An outbreak of PPR and NCD on a farm can lead to a severe loss of income to the affected farmer. For instance, a healthy goat that is sold for about ₦10,000 can be sold for about ₦1,500 if infected with PPR disease. Selling infected animals also pose a serious public health problem that can affect the quality of life of the entire human population.

Animal health issues like these have far-reaching implications on the profitability and income of community livestock farmers. Working with government, private sector partners, including the Nigerian Veterinary Council (VCN), the National Veterinary Research Institute (NVRI), the Nigerian Veterinary Medical Association (NVMA), Ambuvet, and Tropical Poultry Limited, Propcom has set up a rural distribution system to make animal health products and services accessible to rural communities.

Huraira Abubakar is a rural livestock farmer (small ruminants) from Igabi LGA in Kaduna state. She is a mother of four children with two co-wives, in a polygamous household setting of 22 family members with no educational background. For the last 10 years, Huraira depends on the proceeds from her livestock farm of small ruminants for her and her family’s upkeep. Unfortunately, in 2017, there was an outbreak of PPR disease in northern Nigeria which caused a devastating loss to small ruminant farmers including Huraira. Huraira who had 27 goats before the disease outbreak was left with only 7 surviving goats.

Well, when the PPR outbreak sets in, it affects livestock of every household in the community. Like last year, there was a household that lost almost all of its livestock, only one survived the PPR epidemic….They had, more than twenty goats and only one was left. 

Huraira was unhappy about her loss. She thought about quitting the business but had nothing else to do. For 3 years, she sat and watched how her goats died one after the other as a result of PPR disease. With no help or information on how to prevent PPR, most livestock farmers in Huraira’s community began administering medications to the infected livestock with no positive outcome.

The first year my goats were infected with the PPR disease, I lost 20 goats. I had a total of 27 goats that year. Along the line, I began to lose my livestock due to PPR illness. If the mothers of the goats give birth to like 20 or 30 young’s (kids), only 4, 5, or 6 will survive. This was how they died gradually… It reached a point where I felt like quitting (rearing of livestock), because of my bitter experience. But when I looked back at the benefits of rearing livestock as my primary source of income, I just couldn’t stop. 

In 2020, Huraira Abubakar and her community members got in contact with Ambuvets (PM’s partner on livestock intervention in Kaduna state) through the help of a PM staff. 

Huraira and her husband with their vaccinated goats.

Ambuvet is an organisation that provides animal health care services to livestock farmers, with an emphasis on PPR and NCD vaccination within Kaduna state. Upon entry into the state in 2018, a few LGAs were selected to serve as pilot communities for the NDV-i2 and PPR vaccination campaigns in selected locations. The positive outcome of the pilot phase of the vaccination campaigns led to the buy-in of major stakeholders like the Kaduna State Ministry of Agriculture and the Veterinary Council of Nigeria. An expansion to all 23 LGAs was imminent due to the support of the state government and more vaccinators/ Community Animal Health Workers (CAHWs) were brought on board to cover the expansion.

Other strategies were implemented to provide or make available standard agro-vet products within the state, sensitise farmers about the PPR and NDV-i2 vaccine as well as to make known the names/contacts of the trained CAHWs for easy access by livestock farmers within the state.

Huraira Abubakar who had almost lost all hope in her livestock business now has renewed optimism due to the efforts of Ambuvets. Ambuvets inoculated ruminants and poultry with PPR and NCD vaccine which prevented these diseases from occurring and spreading, enabling farmers to have healthy animals, thereby making their businesses more profitable. Due to the vaccination of Huraira’s seven surviving goats, she has been able to sell healthy goats at a good profit, which enabled her to buy more livestock for rearing.

During the PPR outbreak, Huraira made an average monthly profit of ₦5,000 as she had only 7 surviving goats and couldn’t sell her breeding stock. But after vaccinating her goats against PPR, Huraira made an average monthly profit of ₦40,000. Huraira now has 32 goats and four sheep, and she is now able to save more money to cater for her needs and that of her family. With the growing number of livestock, Huraira’s husband now supports her with caring for the goats and taking the goats to be sold, to the market.

Ambuvet also provided Igabi LGA with trained and certified CAHWs who had access to quality/standard agro-vet products for effective livestock service delivery.

Huraira with her growing goat population after vaccination against PPR.

Ever since my goats were vaccinated with the PPR vaccine by Ambuvet , I have not spent any money on livestock treatment, like I used to in the past… I just aspire to be able to run my life smoothly without much difficulties regarding finance, and anyone who sees me should be able to tell that I am not suffering.

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Improving Rural Access to Veterinary Services and Products

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I want to open a poultry farm and hatch chicks to sell to people to rear. So that they too can have something they can do to survive. These are my hopes and aspirations. – Saidu Naziru, CAHW from Jigawa State

Inadequate or no access to quality veterinary drugs and services for smallholder farmers is a critical impediment to improving the health of livestock in rural communities. Propcom responds to this problem through her Animal Health interventions. Working with government, research and private sector entities including the Veterinary Council of Nigeria (VCN), National Veterinary Research Institute (NVRI), Nigerian Veterinary Medical Association (NVMA), Ambuvets, and Tropical Poultry Limited, Propcom established the rural delivery system to make animal health products and services accessible to rural communities. Propcom also trained entrepreneurial individuals at the grassroots level as Community Animal Health Workers (CAHW) to deliver these products and services, including vaccines, and make a small business out of it and generate income for themselves.

Farming and livestock production are the main income generators for the people of Gwaram LGA in Jigawa State, North East Nigeria. However, livestock vaccination or seeking proper animal healthcare is not common practice. So, when disease strikes, farmers defer to using ill-approved medication that have little effect or slaughter and sell their livestock below the going price to prevent total loss from death.

Saidu Naziru, a diploma holder in animal health and technology and father of two, is one of a small group of animal healthcare practitioners servicing livestock farmers in Gwaram. He, along with about 50 others, was trained and certified as a CAHW through Propcom’s partnership with VCN and the Jigawa State government in 2019. Participating in the training changed Saidu’s life and the way he practices his trade as it brought to light gaps in their knowledge in animal health care management.

We were just about 50 animal health care providers in Gwaram community, and we often make mistakes in the areas related to the treatment of livestock. Before, we could not differentiate among medications that will terminate the problem [animal disease] completely or those that will simply reduce it.

During the training, Saidu and the others were also taught to protect themselves from getting infected while providing service. It was obvious that being trained as a CAHW was a turning point in Saidu’s life because he went from earning a meagre income buying, fattening and selling livestock to owning a business selling agro-veterinary products and providing veterinary services. His income improved and Saidu said he is now better able to provide for his family.

In the past, I make N200 (£0.42) to N300 ((£0.62) on bad days, and as much as N500 (£1) to N1,000 (£2) on good days. I am now a big dealer of agrovet products in Gwaram and when I treat just two to three cattle, I make a lot of profit that is sufficient to cater for myself and my family.

Apart from personal gains to Saidu and his family, the community also benefits as Saidu is imparting knowledge to four apprentices he has taken under his wings. He also makes a point of educating his customers about misconceptions and unfriendly practices whenever he encounters them. Saidu’s status has gone up in the society; he has become a well-known and respected member of his community such that other practitioners reach out to him for solutions.

There are two [apprentices] in my shop and there are some others I teach and send around to do minor treatment so they can earn a living from there as well. I have become so competent that even other livestock health service providers in my community do refer difficult cases to me to assist them.

Saidu was quick to attribute his success to the support received from Propcom and her partners. He said that the training, initial free products and motorcycle received, along with some money he’d saved were instrumental in helping him start his business. However, the journey has not been easy. Saidu said he faced many challenges, especially the high cost of veterinary product prices he initially purchased from Jigawa State. But he overcame this difficulty by purchasing from Kano where products are comparatively cheaper. 

What gave me the courage and strength to undertake this task is the assistance we received since the training. They gave me one [ free] carton of agrovet medication. It was very effective and people patronised us and work was going fine. They gave us brand new motorcycles on the condition that we pay N7,500 (£15.7) monthly. I used to have challenges. But since we were certified after the CAHW training, the certificate issued to me serves as an identity card. It has made accessing and buying these agrovet products from Kano very easy; whenever it is with me, there is no hindrance.

The COVID-19 pandemic affected Saidu’s income, particularly during the lockdown period. He was unable to visit his customers to
provide service as usual and many of his clients, who are Fulani herdsmen, were unable go to the market to sell their animals and make
money to buy medicine. Saidu said that as business starts up again with the easing of the lockdown, he has taken precautions to
safeguard himself, his family and his workers by adhering to government prevention instructions.

Despite the impact of COVID-19, Saidu is hopeful for the future. He hopes to venture into poultry farming and sell chicks to poultry
farmers. However, he appeals to Propcom and her partners to assist with improving availability of essential medicines that are frequently used for livestock health management.

 

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From Beggar to Employer

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Burning solid fuels, such as wood and charcoal, have negative health, environmental and climate change effects. This is due to the large amounts of black carbon and carbon-based greenhouse gases released, which contribute to global warming and contributes to the global burden of disease. Annually, about 4 million people die prematurely worldwide from illnesses linked to pollution from burning solid fuels in inefficient stoves used for cooking and heating in households. Solid fuels, especially wood and charcoal, is the most popular household cooking fuel in Nigeria.

According to Clean Cooking Alliance, about 64,200 people die annually from pollution produced from burning these fuels in inefficient stoves Propcom Mai-karfi contributes to the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions by implementing interventions that promote clean energy and reduce deforestation. One of such interventions is the Improved Cookstoves intervention. PM partners with, and supports, small-scale businesses that fabricate and market fuel efficient cookstoves to target households with the stoves and provide income generating opportunities to people in rural communities. Guided by the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO)’s strategic vision of ‘Leaving No One Behind’, PM takes deliberate measures to ensure the inclusion of people with disability (PwD) by training our partners to be disability aware and inclusive, and providing support to ensure PwD can fully participate.

Abdulkadir stands with the aid of a crutch in his store with phones charging in the background. Location: Gombe State

“[I] pray, write on slate, go to shop, pray, review orders for the day, back to home.” This is what Abdulkadir Falalu’s daily routine looks like now. He has a shop where he sells cookstoves and other items; a far cry from when he depended on government’s monthly stipend, and later begging for alms when the government stopped paying the stipend. Abdulkadir is
unmarried and lives with his parents in Dukku area of Gombe State. He became physically disabled in 1999 after a vehicular accident that required one of his legs to be amputated. 

After the [Gombe State] government intervention of N5000 (£10.5) stopped, I resorted to begging at filling stations and checkpoints and writing on slate for Islamiya students (Almajiri) for a fee.

As someone with disability, Abdulkadir’s life typified the experience of many poor people with disability in Nigeria who don’t
have a dignified means of making a living, with some resorting to begging. However, Abdulkadir’s life would take a turn for the better when in 2019, while begging, his paths crossed with Alhaji Hamza, an NGO worker. Alhaji Hamza would later nominate him to Women Initiative for Sustainable Environment (WISE), one of Propcom’s partners on the cookstove intervention, to be trained as an energy champion and support widespread rural distribution of the efficient cookstove.

I was informed by Alhaji Hamza in Gombe that he has submitted my name and contact to WISE. I was in Gombe for a 4-days
training organised by WISE and Propcom Mai-karfi.

After the training, WISE gave Abdulkadir and others who had been trained 15 cookstoves each, with no down payment, to help them kickstart their business. This support was critical as otherwise Abdulkadir would not have had the funds to outrightly purchase the  cookstoves and start his small business.

…[they] gave us 15 cookstoves to start the business with; one of the stoves was given to us free for our personal use.

About 9 months after being trained and starting his small business, Abdulkadir said that on average he sold 8 stoves per month and made about N16,000 (about £33.6) in commission. As demand grew for the cookstoves, Abdulkadir trained and employed two of his siblings to support him as his disability makes it difficult for him to move around. 

As demand became high, I employed two of my siblings to help me with delivery and marketing. I have difficulty walking without my third leg and my siblings, whom I pay N3000 ((£6.31) monthly, have been helpful to me.

With income made from the business, Abdulkadir expanded into other ventures. He now sells mobile phone recharge cards and charges phones for people in the community at a fee; a much-needed service seeing as electricity is not always available. From begging for alms to making an income of N16,000 a month, Abdulkadir’s life has greatly improved and he agrees.

However, like many small businesses, Abdulkadir’s business was hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic; especially during the lockdown. He recalls that he was unable to restock his store due to cessation of supplies during the lockdown and resorted to depending on phone charging and sale of recharge cards to earn money and support his family.

Covid-19 affected the business seriously. It affected supply. I have to fall back to phone charging and recharge cards with the profits made from sales of cookstoves.

Now that he has a dignified and consistent means of livelihood, Abdulkadir has great plans for his business. He hopes to open outlets in neighbouring villages and, importantly, employ other people with disabilities. In his own words, “take more PwD off the streets by giving them work to do”.

The cookstove business is a blessing to me and my family. It came at the time I needed it most. It has taken me off the street begging and given me a job. I am able to take care of myself and family and have also become an employer of labour. I am planning to do awareness in neighbouring villages on cookstoves and open sales outlets in such locations. I also want to expand the phone charging business to include sale of phones and chargers.

Abdulkadir is photographed with some cookstoves. Location: Gombe

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Restoring My Dignity Through Waste Management: Ali’s Story

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The widespread use of plastic, especially the single-use type, results in an increase in plastic wastes, polluting both land and ocean. Since plastic doesn’t degrade, when improperly disposed of, they end up accumulating in waterways and soil, contributing to greenhouse gases and posing great risk to animal and human health, as well as the environment.

In 2010 alone, Nigeria released about 0.34 million tonnes of plastic waste into the ocean, ranking ninth globally for polluting the ocean. Since plastic production cannot be stopped, it’s harmful effect can be minimised through improved waste management systems and practices, education, recycling, enacting better policies, and reducing production of unnecessary single-use plastics, among others.

Propcom Mai-karfi, in partnership with eTrashtoCash, a social enterprise that uses technology to combat environmental problems, piloted a plastic waste management intervention in Bauchi state in 2019. Through this intervention, it created awareness about the problem of plastic waste, encouraged proper waste disposal and encouraged entrepreneurship by training people in rural communities as waste collection agents.

Ali Isma’il Gambo is a waste collection agent in Katagum local governement area, Bauchi State, North East Nigeria, where he lives with his wife and six children. The promise of a better income and the positive impact that plastic recycling will have on the environment motivated Ali to leave his trade as a cobbler and go into the plastic waste collection business.

Ali became deaf after a bout of Meningitis when he was seven years old, which his family was too poor to properly treat. At 34, he continues to struggle to navigate the hardships of being a deaf person in a country where over 23% of the population are living with hearing impairments. Due to their limited financial resources, Ali, and his equally deaf wife, must rely on their eldest son, Ahmadu, who has acted as their care giver since he was eight years old.

Ali’s venture into plastic waste collection was not deliberate. He was sitting near the eTrash2Cash office when he noticed people filing forms and upon making enquiries, he was told that they were applying for a waste management training. Ali did not think he would be eligible because of his disability, but due to Propcom’s focus on inclusion of vulnerable groups, he was supported to apply for the training and given all the support he needed to successfully participate and to start the business.

“The training taught me how to use them [plastic waste] to do so many useful things. They taught me how to source and collect the waste in a dignified manner. After the training, they continued to enlighten me on how best to source for waste for free in hospitals, filling stations and the market. They gave me priority as a deaf person.”

Ali is seen here collecting and sorting plastic waste from a landfill. Location: Bauchi State, Nigeria

The business has not been without challenges. Ali says he faces discrimination both for his disability and for being a waste collector. He says he doesn’t let the discrimination depress him and tries to get people to become aware of the harmful effects of plastic waste.

“People look down on me because I am in the trash business. People think I am a mad person for taking trash from people. I try not to be intimated by people’s discrimination for my disability, I try to show them that it is not my fault for being deaf. As for the trash business, I try to show people how important it is to make sure the environment is not littered with trash, and how resourceful it can be. My family and friends have supported me a lot in communicating and negotiation with people, and helping people understand the importance of my waste collection business.”

Ali also faces risk to his health as a waste collection agent. He says he protects himself by wearing protective clothing and collecting waste only from the source and refraining from rummaging through garbage bins and other waste collection points that hold mixed wastes.

“When I collect [plastic] waste, I use hand gloves and face masks to reduce risks of infection. I do not go to mixed garbage bins or dumps to collect waste. I follow recommendation from the training to only collect trash from the source.”

To make enough income from the business, Ali uses a mix of strategies. He tells people that he will collect and dispose of their plastic waste at no cost; obtains plastic waste from multiple sources and is continually identifying new sources of waste. In places such as hospitals, where he does not have direct access to plastic waste, he employs the assistance of janitors to sort the waste on his behalf for a small fee.

Today, Ali is in a better position financially to look after his family. He says he makes between N8,000 to N14,000 (£17 to £27) in a month just from waste collection. The ability to provide for his family and not be pushed into begging like many people with disability has given Ali peace of mind, and according to him, improved his status in the community.

“Now with this new business, I earn enough to cover basic food spending with ease, without incurring any debt like I used to. My mind is at peace now that my children can eat
at home without starving or going to our neighbours to beg for food. I am respected in the neighborhood because I do not rely on begging like most people with disability.”

Ali is hopeful for the future and looks forward to expanding his business by incorporating
knowledge gained through managing plastic waste and shoe making.

“My hope is to learn and up-skill myself on sustainable waste management practice and
build on the training I received. I am looking at ways to integrate my skills in shoe making with sustainable waste management practice by incorporating all reusable, upcyclable plastic materials into the making of shoes.

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From Being A Liability to Thriving with Disability: Hafsat’s Story

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There are about 25 million people with disabilities (PwDs) in Nigeria. This number makes up 29% of the 84 million PwDs in Africa; over half of whom are women. When compared to other regions, the North East is home to most PwDs in Nigeria due to the ongoing conflict and insurgency. PwDs in Nigeria, like in many countries, experience varying levels of human rights abuses and are excluded from society with inadequate access to education, health care and other services. Essentially, disability and poverty are related in that poverty increases people’s vulnerability to disability while disability fosters poverty due to lack of employment, poor access to education, poor wages, and higher cost of living due to disability, among others.

Hafsat Iman’s foray into hibiscus aggregation was by happenstance. While seeking ways to make more income, she purchased a small quantity of hibiscus, which she later sold at a profit. It’s now been about 7 years since that first sale and the business has become her primary source of income. The journey, however, has not been without pitfalls for this middle-aged widow with four children, especially being a deaf person. However, support from family, her community and training received have made the journey bearable and brought her to where she is now; a deaf woman succeeding at hibiscus aggregation despite all odds stacked against her as a person living with disability.

“My hibiscus business was borne out of my desire to have more income to cater for the needs of the family. Sewing and knitting are normally casual work and I need all the money I can put my hands on. The major challenge I face as a deaf person aggregating hibiscus is communicating with farmers and potential buyers of my products”

Hafsat lives with one of her daughters, Salma, in the Hadejia area of Jigawa State in Northern Nigeria. She purchased her first quantity of hibiscus with money made from her tailoring and knitting business which, at the time, was her primary source of income. She bought the hibiscus when it was in season and cheap and sold after season when price rose making appreciable profit from her first sale.

“It all began when I bought a small quantity [of hibiscus] and later sold it at a higher price. That experience made me realise that aggregation business is worth investing in.”

Encouraged by profits made, Hafsat decided to continue the business and so invested more time, effort and resources into it. With the support of her daughters, other family members and people in the community, Hafsat grew her business and built a loyal customer base.

“My family plays a big part in my business; my two daughters, Aisha and Salma, serve as my translators. My brothers and sisters support me in promoting the business as well as loading and offloading the products. My daughter Salma is involved in all the activities that I do at home, she supports me in cleaning the hibiscus or supervising the women I engage to do the work. The community supports me by patronising my business and serve as translators in the absence of my family. My neighbours are especially helpful in promoting my business.”

However, after some time the business began to dwindle. Hafsat said she was losing large quantities of hibiscus during post-harvest storage, customers were rejecting her hibiscus citing poor quality, her customer base was declining, which meant she had to travel far to find buyers, and the price she was getting for her product was no longer encouraging. So, weighing her options, she strongly contemplated cutting her losses and closing the business.

It was while she was contemplating leaving the business that she heard of and participated in a training on post-harvest handling and processing (quality standard cleaning) of hibiscus provided by one of Propcom’s partners, KB Global, a large scale aggregator supplying the export market through TOON Consolidated Company Limited. The training could not have come at a better time as Hafsat said she learnt the importance of properly cleaning hibiscus prior to selling. She said they were taught how to market their products and linked to KB Global offtakers who bought their cleaned hibiscus in bulk.

She added that KB Global would only buy their hibiscus provided they were cleaned to expected quality standards. Having this direct linkage to KB Global offtakers meant that Hafsat had a ready buyer for her hibiscus and it eliminated the cost previously incurred for transportation to seek new buyers.

“KB Global trained us on how to clean hibiscus and buys from us at a good price. Before, I didn’t clean the hibiscus before selling. [So], the price was not good enough and I didn’t make good profit. The market was difficult to predict as the offtakers enjoyed monopoly. They determined hibiscus prices at will. However, with KB Global the price is more attractive and profitable despite the additional cost of cleaning.”

Hafsat no longer thinks about closing her business. In fact, with the training and support received from KB Global, she expanded her business and now employs seven people, four women and three men. With profit made from the business, Hafsat is better able to care for her family’s needs and offer support to others in her family and the community.

“I aggregate over 2,000 kg of hibiscus every month and generate around N60,000 (approximately £126) during the peak period. I use the money to take good care of myself and my children. I pay for their education, health and food. I also support other members of the family.”

Hafsat’s status in the community has greatly improved. She says she’s no longer a liability but is now accorded respect to the extent of being consulted on all matters that affect her family and even the community. She hopes to acquire a warehouse and further expand her business, making more income and employing more people in her community in the process.

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Women Chicken Producers Improve Production with Education and Access to Vaccination.

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Disease is a major constraint that threatens productivity of rural chicken farmers in Nigeria, of which Newcastle Disease is said to be the most devastating. A 2015 study conducted by Propcom Mai-karfi to assess local chicken production revealed that most chicken producers do not invest in vaccines for their chicken and the few who do use vaccines that are unapproved for chicken diseases. The same study further revealed that many chicken farmers have little or no knowledge of good feeding practice and disease control.

Chicken production can, however, be a lucrative source of additional income for rural households. However, for this to happen constraints to productivity, such as disease, must be managed, and rural producers supported to improve their productivity and access to market. In view of the benefits of chicken production to rural communities, Propcom Mai-karfi has designed several interventions to tackle identified constraints. These interventions provide rural women involved in local chicken production with training, access to vaccines and offtakers in order to improve their production and access to market. This, Propcom does in collaboration with private sector partners.

Habiba Hassan is a mother of six children from Gwamfia in Jahun Local Government in Jigawa State. Habiba wears many hats as a local chicken farmer, groundnut farmer and food vendor in her attempt to generate additional income to support her household. Even though Habiba had been rearing local chickens in her backyard for some time, she, like many women local chicken producers, was faced with issues such as poor flock size due to their chickens contracting diseases and dying. The problem was that, Habiba and the other women were not aware of vaccines and their use in preventing poultry diseases and had, thus, never vaccinated their chickens.

Things changed for Habiba when in 2019 Propcom Mai-karfi organised a training on Local Chicken Improved Production (LoCIP) in her community, and she was one of the participants. Despite having experience rearing local chicken, she said she learnt a lot, especially about vaccines that help prevent diseases and death in chickens. She said she was very pleased when after the training they were linked to vaccinators who offer vaccination services in their community. This linkage proved very useful as she was able to get one of the vaccinators to vaccinate all her chickens after the training.

There isn’t enough awareness [about vaccination] to enable women to vaccinate their chickens; so, they don’t. When they see how well my chickens are doing, they ask for my secret and I teach them what I learnt from the training. Once they know, they are more inclined to vaccinate because they know its importance.

In addition to being linked to vaccinators, Habiba and other participants at the training were put in contact with aggregators who purchased their chickens in bulk. This made access to market quicker for the women as previously they had to take their chickens to the open market to sell, which often involved multiple visits to the market before they were able to sell off their chickens. With this linkage their chicken sale was swifter, income was not delayed, and the women saved on transportation and other costs incurred to get to market.

Habiba said that partaking in the training has made a lot of difference in the way she takes care of her chickens. When we spoke with Habiba, she had two hens sitting on 10 eggs each. She said that by practising knowledge gained from the training she was confident that her chickens will grow big and healthy and get her good prices when they are ready to be sold. She is now an advocate of the LoCIP training and has transferred the knowledge gained to others in her community.

Since I started practising what I learnt from the training, my chickens are healthier, and I make more money than women who don’t vaccinate their chickens. The money I make, I put back into my chicken business and use the rest to buy foodstuff and pay bills for my household.

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Supporting Rural Women Farmers with Good Agricultural Practices (GAP)

Rice is the third most consumed food in Nigeria after maize and cassava, making it an important food crop (KPMG, 2019). It is also an important cash crop for smallscale, rural farmers who produce over 80% of rice consumed in Nigeria (PWC, 2018). However, obsolete mills and low capacity of small-scale rice processors, limited mechanisation, inadequacy of agrochemicals and fertilisers, and insufficiency of extension services are some constraints to rice production in Nigeria (PWC, 2018).

Working with select partners, Propcom Mai-karfi (PM) provides Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) to small scale farmers in rural communities to bridge the extension service gap. In this way, farmers have up-to-date information to aid their farming activities and ultimately improve their productivity and income.

Salamatu Ahmed is a 45-year old mother of 8 from Ganuwarkuka community in Auyo LGA of Jigawa State. She farms predominantly rice and some vegetables on 2 hectares of inherited farmland and uses income from selling her produce to support her household.

She is one of many beneficiaries of PM’s rice intervention through which the Programme’s partner, Atafi Agro, furnishes farmers in rural communities with GAP on rice farming. Atafi deploys trained agents to communities who register rice farmers using the AfricaRice App and periodically provide tailored information to suit individual farmers’ needs. Information provided range from type of seed to plant, time to plant, soil type, fertiliser application, time to harvest and postharvest handling. Atafi also links registered farmers to off-takers to enable them to sell their produce faster. Through the App a database of farmers was created, and this made tracking farmers’ progress and providing support easier and efficient.

Interacting with the agents made Salamatu realise she had been doing many things wrong on her farm. For instance, she would spread fertiliser on top of the soil, which made it prone to being washed off whenever it rained or during floods.
Prior to receiving GAP information, Salamatu was only able to harvest 35 bags of rice (1 bag is 75kg) per hectare, which she sold in the open market; she, thus, had limited options to sell her produce. However, having put to practice knowledge received, Salamatu’s productivity greatly improved. She says she now harvests about 75 bags of rice per hectare of farmland.

“I did not realise I was doing a lot of things wrong. Fertilisers and other inputs are very expensive and for years I’ve been wasting my fertilisers. With knowledge gained, I have gone from harvesting 35 bags of rice per hectare to about 75 bags per hectare.”

With Atafi’s support, Salamatu and some of the other registered women rice farmers came together and started a cooperative. Through this cooperative they sell their aggregated produce to offtakers Atafi had linked to them, such as Three Brothers.

The cooperative has been such great help as the women support each other with activities on their farms and as a group are able to negotiate the right price for their produce. Additionally, as a cooperative, they transfer knowledge and experience to other women in their community and support them to improve their farming techniques, which leads to more yield and income.

“Before we formed the cooperative, I did everything on my farm with my children helping, except for harvest season when I hired male labourers to do the harvesting. Today, we support one another on our farms. Often, when other women farmers see how well our farms are doing, they ask us what we did, and we teach them so they too can do well on their farms. We have also helped other women farmers form groups like ours in our community.”

According to Salamatu, on a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being the highest, her income has increased by about 70% since she started implementing GAP provided by Atafi’s agents. She said she uses her income to support her household and to buy inputs for her farm. She has also invested some of her income into rearing ruminants and has begun to see returns.

“Today, I am able to financially support my household more. We eat better and I am happier. I have even used some of the money from selling my rice to start rearing ruminants; I recently sold 2 goats at N30,000 each!”

For the near future, Salamatu hopes to expand her rice farm by leasing additional land from the government. Even though she is aware that it is getting harder for farmers to lease land from the government, she remains hopeful.

“My status has gone up in my community and I am respected and recognised. Everywhere I go people wave at me and shout ‘Hajiya!’ ‘Hajiya!”
— Salamatu Ahmed, Rice farmer from Jigawa

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Helping Rural Women Succeed at Local Chicken Production

Nigeria has the second-largest poultry population in Africa with about 165 to 180 million birds (Sahel, 2015; FAO, 2018). Poultry farming is fragmented across 3 systems in the country: free range or traditional, semi-intensive and commercial; with most birds farmed via the traditional and semi-intensive systems (FAO, 2018; Garba et al., 2013).

Traditional poultry farming, where households keep small flock sizes, about 5 to 20, of the Nigerian local chicken breed, is widespread in Northern Nigeria and is an important means of generating additional income for women in rural communities (Garba et al., 2013). Although poultry farming has potential for profit-making for women, factors such as lack of finance, disease, feed availability, and insufficient extension service or lack of training constrain expansion of the business (Ahmed et al., 2011; Garba et al., 2013).

Propcom Mai-karfi (PM) collaborates with select community-based organisations and veterinary service providers to help women poultry farmers to improve their farming techniques, thus, increase the sizes and health of their flocks. It does this by providing training on improved poultry production and linking poultry farmers to community vaccinators and market.

Sabon Gari in Rano LGA is in Kano State and this is where Rabi Gambo, a 40-year old civil servant lives with her family. Like many women in her community Rabi is involved in other ventures through which she gets additional income for her family; she’s a poultry and soya bean farmer.
In 2017, Rabi, along with other women in her community, was trained on improved poultry techniques for rearing local chicken and supported to start the business by one of PM’s partners.

“We were trained in 2017 by Propcom; they’re the only organisation that has trained us on poultry. In the training we were taught many things to make chickens grow big and healthy; like brooding, separating the hen from chicks, good housing, feeding and how to sell chickens.”

With a seed fund of N500, Rabi bought one hen and started her local chicken business. Rabi said she practised the techniques they’d been taught and was very pleased when her one hen grew into a flock size of 20 chickens, which she sold for up to N1000 each in the open market.

“The training was very useful. I bought one hen at N500 and started practising brooding and the other things they taught us. I was able to get 20 chickens from my hen, which I sold in the market for N1000, N800 or N500. My chickens grew faster and bigger than my neighbours. I use the money to help my family and to support members of my cooperative.”

Unfortunately, over time Rabi said they were unable to access vaccination services as the vaccinator linked to their community was never available or lacked vaccines. They were, thus, unable to vaccinate their birds. Consequently, many of the women lost most or all their birds to diseases during the harmattan season. In her case, Rabi said that she butchered the chickens that had not yet succumbed to illness for meat so as not to lose her investment.

“Whenever we call Aliyu, the vaccinator, to come and vaccinate our birds he either doesn’t come or says he does not have vaccines. So, when harmattan came, our birds got ill and started dying. Most of us had to quickly kill the birds for meat so we don’t lose out completely.”

Despite the loss that was experienced, Rabi was undeterred and determined to continue her local chicken business as she’d seen the potential in it. So, with the other women in her cooperative they identified another vaccinator in their community who would be vaccinating their chickens, so they don’t suffer the same fate.
Rabi is proof that rearing local chickens can be profitable with the right support and where adequate measures are taken to protect the birds. As at the time of collecting Rabi’s story she had begun rearing chickens again and was looking forward to her eggs hatching into healthy birds.

“I am now a mentor in my community. Whenever other women visit me and see how big my chickens are, they ask me to teach them so they too can start. I wish more women will practice brooding so they can grow their flock size and make extra money for their family.”
— Rabi Gambo, local chicken farmer from Kano

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