Zowasel & Solidaridad Partners to Support Oil Palm Value Chain Farmers In Nigeria
Zowasel and Solidaridad have announced a partnership to develop the oil palm value chain in Nigeria.
The partnership will enable smallholder farmers to access the right information that will enable them to adequately manage their farms to improve crop quality, access to improved inputs to increase yields, access financial inclusiveness, and above all access to the right markets to earn more for their harvest.
Over the years, smallholder farmers in the oil palm value chain have struggled with access to the right information and challenges ranging from lack of minimum crop quality knowledge, poor crop specifications, and harvesting requirements expected by off-takers. As well as lack of access to improved fertilizers, and agrochemicals to increase yield.
Both organizations are collaborating based on their individual areas of strength, mutual goals, interests, competency, expertise, and available resources to improve the oil palm value chain and livelihoods of smallholder farmers across rural communities in Nigeria.
Solidaridad on one hand will be bridging the existing knowledge gap by deploying trained community facilitators to rural communities and offering technical support in the development of the oil palm smallholder farmers.
On the other hand, Zowasel would be providing access to improved inputs such as fertilizers and agrochemicals, financial inclusion services, and opportunities for smallholder farmers to connect with the right markets through its Marketplace platform.
Over the years, Solidaridad has successfully built large clusters and a rich database of smallholder farmers across key farming communities in Nigeria, that would enable Zowasel to build on by developing and/or upscaling its Crop Test Centers and Grain Booths across such communities to establish a direct point of sales targeted at strengthening and connecting rural communities with its twin blockchain technology and services.
Commenting on the partnership, Ebenezer Oduwu, Country Finance & Credit Manager at Zowasel, says “The overall goal is to achieve four interrelated and mutually beneficial components: (i) Train, develop and empower local agents to support their communities; (ii) Connect communities with access to financial inclusion services; (iii) Provide access to readily available improved farm inputs, and (iv) Create market access for smallholder farmers to earn more for their crops right in their communities”.
Also speaking, Ernest Ita, Senior Programme Officer at Solidaridad Nigeria, says “A key component of the partnership is aimed at building capacities of smallholder farmers, developing and empowering local agents to transform the oil palm sector through community facilitators, provide expert advice to smallholder farmers and ensure that smallholders adopt knowledge and practices that would improve their productivity”.
While the oil palm smallholder farmers across Solidaridad Network will be gaining access to improved farming inputs, financial inclusion services, and above all access to premium markets through the Zowasel network, Solidaridad would be playing a key role in ensuring capacity-building efforts are yielding the desired results — improving smallholder farmer income and livelihood resilience.
