On Tuesday, April 2, 2019, the Market Development in the Market Delta (MADE) team assembled various stakeholders in the agricultural space including representatives from the government, private sector, and NGOs at the Best Western Hotel, Asaba, Delta State. Afrimash was present, being a private sector actor involved in using technology to improve the efficiency of input distribution to farmers in the Niger Delta and across Nigeria. The MADE learning and dissemination workshop revealed how the Nigerian Agricultural Enterprise Curriculum (NAEC) is being used in the Niger Delta as a diagnostic tool to enhance the efficiency and sustainability of farms.
Niger Delta is the focus area of work for MADE, being a region consisting of 9 states that account for about 50 million Nigerians and unemployment rate as high of 57.4% compared with 54% average in Nigeria. In addition, agriculture accounts for 44% of the available employment in that region. Yet, their agriculture is grossly inefficient and faced by low productivity. Constraints identified include:
- Lack of access to farm inputs and services
- Lack of information
- Lack of appropriately sized poultry inputs for smallholder farmers
- Inadequate access to market.
Despite the activities of donors, little or no progress had been made for years. So MADE introduced the Market Systems approach. This helps to efficiently tackle the root causes of Market System constraints by working with private sector partners to design commercially viable solutions.
At Afrimash, we are glad to have been a part of that event, being an important area of work for us. Our mission is to make agriculture convenient for everyone, and we currently focus on distributing/delivering inputs to poultry and fish farmers in a more efficient way using the power of technology.
Afrimash is open to more relationships and partnerships towards achieving this objective.