Value Ingredients Limited has launched a new initiative aimed at empowering 1,500 young women in Ekiti State with access to land, tools, and technical support to boost local agricultural production and enhance cassava yields across the region.
The initiative, tagged the Women in SME and Sourcing for Export (WISE) Programme, is being delivered in partnership with IDH, a global organisation focused on sustainable trade. It aims to directly engage women between ages 18 and 35, equipping each participant with one acre of farmland alongside critical inputs such as ploughing, fertiliser, herbicides, and high-yield cassava stems.
In a state where agriculture remains both a cultural heritage and a survival strategy, this effort signals a deliberate move to localise food production and bridge gender gaps in farming ownership.
“The programme isn’t just handing out tools; it’s transferring power. We’re building a new generation of women growers who will feed their communities and break cycles of poverty,” a project official told this reporter on Tuesday.
Participants will also benefit from agronomic support, intercropping opportunities, and direct access to markets – a sharp departure from the historical bottlenecks that often leave smallholder farmers stranded with surplus produce and no buyers.
By integrating young women into structured cassava value chains, the project aligns with broader national conversations about food security, youth employment, and gender equity in Nigeria’s agricultural sector.
The organisers have opened registration through a Google Form [https://forms.gle/DNhCYWwkNeL1byZi8], with contact lines provided for further inquiries: Blessing (09053491417) and Bimbo (09030425949).
With Ekiti’s fertile lands and a willing youthful workforce, the WISE programme could shift not just yields, but the narrative around women in agriculture.
