ADM Cares Partners with One Acre Fund to Support Smallholder Farming Families in Nigeria
ADM Cares is partnering with One Acre Fund to help smallholder farming families tackle extreme poverty and climate change in Nigeria. The partnership aims to improve the harvests and livelihoods of hundreds of thousands of Nigerian smallholder farmers annually and support the planting of millions of new trees.
With smallholder farmers producing approximately 90% of the country's food, Nigeria is home to some of the largest numbers of smallholder families in Africa. However, a staggering 26.5 million people in Nigeria are projected to face acute hunger in the June-August 2024 lean season. Nigeria regularly experiences severe droughts and floods, which negatively impact agricultural processes, especially for those in rural areas, resulting in smallholder farmers facing huge challenges, including low yields, climate change and access to supplies.
Through the partnership, an integrated three-pillared approach will aim to empower hundreds of thousands of smallholder farmer families against the dual crisis of poverty and climate change.
Core Agricultural Services: Growing Pathways To Stronger Harvests
This package provides essential services required for smallholders to immediately increase their harvests, including providing credit, high quality seeds and fertilizer, and agricultural training complimented by hands-on support through the entire season. Farmers will also be provided with climate-smart training to ensure that their land is more resilient for the future.
"My experience has been fantastic. There's been great improvement in my harvest. It's very surprising and fulfilling," said Kabiru Garba, One Acre Fund farmer.
Rural Retail: Empowering Farmers Through Access to Life-Improving Products
Rural smallholder farmers in Nigeria lack access to on-demand high-quality products and services, like fertilizer and solar products. This creates barriers for many farm families trying to forge paths out of hunger and poverty. One Acre Fund’s rural retail channel has been designed to provide farm families with affordable access to diverse and life improving agricultural and lifestyle products throughout the year and also offer a touchpoint with farmers through which to provide the training and agronomic recommendations that support harvest improvements.
Tree Planting: Building Long-Term Resilience
One Acre Fund’s agroforestry program supplies smallholder farmers with fast-growing tree seedlings to plant alongside their crops, preventing erosion, improving soil fertility, and enabling rural families to build long-term financial assets.
"After knowing the future advantage of the trees, I decided to be a part of the program to ensure that farmers in my community benefit from the numerous uses the tree offers," said Zainab Abdullahi, Tree Nursery Manager.
By partnering with One Care Fund, ADM Cares is supporting their vision of empowering 1 million smallholder families in Nigeria to build their climate resilience and long-term prosperity annually by 2030.