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The Chief Executive Officer of Rashak Farms and Agro Allied Limited, Rahmah Aderinoye said the company has empowered not less than 9,500 smallholder farmers in the country with zero-interest inputs like seeds, fertilizers and pesticides.
She said they have also facilitated direct market access through ( fair trade) for the farmers by forging strategic partnerships with food companies to ensure competitive returns for their produce.
She stated this at the weekend in Abuja while addressing journalists on activities of the organization to boost food security in Abuja.
She said the company is committed to empowering smallholder farmers, with a particular focus on women, youths, and people with disabilities, aligning with UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) such as No Poverty (SDG 1), Zero Hunger (SDG 2), Good Health & Well-being (SDG 3), Gender Equality (SDG 5), and Decent Work & Economic Growth (SDG 8).
Aderinoye said since the inception of the organization in 2016 it has focused on farmers which including women, youth and people with disabilities resulting in over 25% increase in their income.
She said the beneficiaries cut across various states which included Kaduna, Jigawa, Kano, Katsina, Kogi, Oyo, Taraba, Niger, Bauchi, Kwara, and Zamfara.
Aderinoye noted that the intervention was aimed at combating poverty perpetrated by loan sharks and create jobs.
According to her “Rashak Farms Agro Allied Limited is a social enterprise with zero interest inputs financing for small holders farmers. We focused on women farmers, youths and farmers living with disabilities . We also provide them training because we realised it is important to train and retrain the farmers on modern day techniques to cultivate their lands .
“We also provide storage facilities to store the inputs . We also have a mill processing plant in Zaria to improve on the quality of these produce the farmers have harvested thereby giving a leverage to be able to demand a premium for these commodities.
“We are the only Agriculture business in Nigeria that is Sharia compliance. We don’t make anything interest , we don’t do interest financing. For us we feel that the cost of interest keeps people below the poverty level.
“As of today we have impacted a total of 9,500 smallholders farmers across the country and this includes farmers that we have been able to provide market access to and farmers we have been able to give inputs to cultivate their lands. In total all of them combine over 9,500 smallholders farmers”.
While shedding light on why the organization focused on people with disabilities Aderinoye said she has come to realize that nobody is giving that demography any attention on the society.
“In the Northern part of the country. We find out that nobody is giving any attention to this demographic. The question is who is addressing the question of this demography. For whatever reason we don’t give them much attention. We feel nothing wrong bringing them on board. They also deserve an opportunity just like any other farmers and I don’t see any reason why they should left unattended”.
She said they have provided 1870 farmers with inputs for this year raining season farming in Kaduna , Katsina and Kano respectively.
While calling on the government to provide adequate security for the farmers, Aderinoye condemned the porous security situation in the country particularly in the North.
“Our aggregation process serves as a solution for Small-Scale Farmers majorly because small scale farmers face limitations in accessing wider markets and securing fair prices for their produce. Middlemen and limited reach can significantly reduce profits. Rashak Farms’ farm produce aggregation initiative addresses these challenges by:
collecting produce directly from farmers and bypassing intermediaries, giving farmers a more direct connection to the market. Rashak Farms also cleans and stores produce properly, minimizing post-harvest losses , enhancing produce value and finally securing better product prices for farmers
“Rashak is also launching a tree-planting program to combat desertification and promote environmental sustainability in the next dry season. Each of our farmers will be empowered to plant one tree with the aim of improving soil health and fertility, leading to better crop yields and mitigating the effects of climate change,” Aderinoye added.