NGO Empowers Female Farmers and Plans to Form Cooperatives for Sustainability

….Provides Improved Seedlings and funds to female farmers to boost their agricultural potential.

An NGO known as the Olivae Development Initiative for Women has empowered no fewer than 100 female farmers in Awo-Ekiti, Irepodun/Ifelodun Local Government Area of Ekiti State.

Speaking at the event in Awo-Ekit, the NGO Coordinators Sarah Fagoyinbo, and Olufeyikemi Ogunjimi said the farmers were empowered with seeds and funds to boost their agricultural potentials.

Ogunjimi said the organization and other groups researched the challenges facing female farmers in the community and identified the lack of improved seedlings as an issue confronting them.

She added that they would be looking forward to the women forming cooperative societies for them to enjoy interest-free loans for their agricultural produce and business.

According to her, “Basically, what we do is to encourage women especially those in agriculture because we know they face a lot of issues. As we know in Africa, women do not inherit a lot of things, they don’t usually inherit from their late parents.

“They are the ones who run after these loan organisations. We are trying to encourage them and we have come to this community with seeds free of charge for the over 100 women we have here. 

“We understand the fact that giving them free seeds is not enough, so we gave each group N50,000 cash for land clearing and buying fertilizers. We have divided them into four women groups for easy coordination and for each group we have a maximum of 25, definitely they will be more. 

“In the long run, what we are trying to do is to form a cooperative society because we don’t believe in giving people money, that will be like free money. We want a kind of accountability and they will be able to access loans possibly without interest. They will manage it themselves and we encourage people to support the project. 

“We have done research on what the women are facing here and what we have come to know is a lack of improved seeds, that is why we have come to assist them with the seeds to serve as a solution to one of the problems. Let me also say that we are hoping to replicate it in other communities in the state for the women farmers.” 

Advising the beneficiaries, the coordinator said, “For us accountability is key and we don’t joke with it as an organization. Everything we are doing, we inform our partners and we expect them to be accountable and do something that we have given them.”