Global Affairs Canada (GAC) and MEDA are set to support women and youth in the Nigeria Way project” in Bauchi State. The project which is expected to benefit a total of 41,000 people will include 16,000 small scale businesses, particularly those run by women and youth, aimed at improving their business capacity and business environments; and 25,000 families and community members that will become better educated on the consequences surrounding early and forced child marriage.
The Nigeria WAY project will improve the business capacity and environment for entrepreneurs and small-scale businesses in the rice, groundnut and soybean value chains processing in seven Local Government Areas (LGAs) of Bauchi State from 2017 – 2022. The five year project is using a market based approach to increase access to markets, financial and business development services, information and labor-saving technology, incorporate environmentally sustainable practices and increase profitability for clients, contributing to a vibrant agro-processing sector.
The project intends to facilitate the manufacturing and installation of institutional efficient cook-stoves for rice processers in the state. On this note, the project team recently made a visit to the secretariat of NACC to expound on the project aims, approaches and strategies. The project is collaborating with some partners of NACC as Lead Firms (LFs) to implement the clean cooking component.
The market systems approach will also involve private sector-led initiatives to reduce barriers and constraints faced by economically active poor women and youth in accessing markets. The project begins by selecting value chains (VCs) with growth potential and opportunities for women and youth-led Small Scale Businesses (SSB’s) and Small Entrepreneurs (ENs). The project components include access to green technologies, and green finance among others.
Bauchi state has the lowest youth literacy rate in Nigeria at 48.9%, it has the second-highest unemployment rate (37%) nationally and the 4th highest poverty rate in Nigeria with 3 million people living on less than $1 a day out of a total population of about 4.7 million.
For more information, please click on: https://www.meda.org/information/about-way-project
