HarvestPlus, in partnership with the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development’s Agricultural Development Program (ADP) through the ADP’s Women in Agriculture (WIA) Extension Program, trains women on biofortified food products for household and commercial uses.
The Country Manager of HarvestPlus Nigeria, Dr. Yusuf Dollah, during the training held in Paikoro, Niger State, noted that the focus is on women due to their vital role in the agricultural and economic development of any nation and their influence on the allocation of household income.
The WIA is an extension program used as a vehicle for the transfer of agriculture and nutrition-proven innovations and technologies in production, processing, marketing, consumption, and nutrition to women in Nigeria.
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HarvestPlus, with funding and support from the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA), intends to use the extension program to disseminate agriculture and nutrition information on Vitamin A Cassava and Vitamin A Maize by stepping down knowledge and skills to the community and household levels in Niger and Kaduna states.
Dr. Yusuf presented a maize planter to the community farmers to ensure adherence to good agricultural practices as field day was carried out at Dagodagbe village, which is a model community for the AGRA/HarvestPlus project in Paikoro local council.
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The Nutrition and Post-Harvest officer at HarvestPlus, Olatundun Kalejaiye, who doubled as the facilitator of the training, calls on participants to make use of the knowledge gained to correctly sell and process vitamin A maize and cassava foods and also make use of the recipes at home to improve the nutritional quality of their family meals.
The Niger State deputy head of WIA, Halima Abubakar, said that training is of the essence at a time when many households are struggling to put food on their tables.
