April 01, 2021

Grain cleaning promotes women inclusion in the sorghum sector in Nigeria

Staple Crops

Nigeria

In Northern Nigeria, sorghum is an important crop for farmers, processors, and consumers. This is not only because of its nutritional value but the economic empowerment it brings. Nalmaco limited, one of the largest sorghum aggregators in this region has partnered with 2SCALE to build the capacity of sorghum farmers.

Through this partnership, 2SCALE is empowering 20,000 smallholder farmers to work in agriculture as a business and access structured markets. It is also improving the marketing and distribution of sorghum-based products to 10,000 Base of Pyramid (BoP) consumers. Nalmaco Limited purchases sorghum directly from smallholder farmers cooperatives through farmer collection centers otherwise known as community aggregation centers. Direct sourcing of grains from farmers' cooperatives is beneficial to both Nalmaco and smallholder farmers – the aggregator is assured of the quality of the produce while the pressure on farmers to sell their products immediately after harvest is reduced, helping to eliminate middlemen.

The end of the harvesting season is a welcome moment for Nalmaco to buy sorghum directly from the farmers in organized producer organizations.

Auwal Shehu from Nalmaco explains;

I collect grains for Nalmaco Nigeria Limited. The grain collection is organized through farmer collection centers otherwise known as local community aggregation centers, which are coordinated by producer organization leaders in the agribusiness cluster. Each producer organization takes their grains to this aggregation centers before it is transported to Nalmaco warehouse.

Grain Cleaning: An economic activity for Nigerian women

A visit to Nalmaco during the sorghum collection period, women are busy cleaning the grain. They do this by manually winnowing to separate grain from chaff. This is an important process because it reduces toxins and improves the quality of grain supplied to processors like Nestle, which results in more profit for Nalmaco limited. This partnership aims to among other things, build an inclusive sorghum value chain that results to job creation for women and youth. Involvement of these vulnerable groups ranges from spray service providers, input dealers, farmers and grain cleaners.

For women, grain cleaning is not only a process to enhance the quality of sorghum, it is an economic activity that helps them meet their day-to-day financial needs. One of the women explains;

My name is Hajia Hajara Salisu, grain cleaning is a means of livelihood for me and my family. I use the money earned to take care of myself and my family. I have been in the grain cleaning business for 30 Years. Using the money earned, I have built a house for my family.

Nalmaco provides jobs to more than 150 women as grain cleaners in its warehouse each day. These women clean up to 30 tons per day!

Challenges in the sorghum sector

Insecurity in the cluster areas, as well as poor grain quality due to contamination from aluminum base pesticides, are major challenges highlighted by grain buyers in the sorghum sector.

The Nalmaco-2SCALE partnership is helping alleviate these challenges by improving farmers' awareness and capacity to produce the right quality of grains. Meeting the quality and quantity required by aggregators, as well as assuring competitive prices for smallholder farmers will lead to a highly performing value chain.

To achieve this, Nalmaco and 2SCALE are strengthening the capacity of smallholder farmers through training on good agronomic practices, responsible use of pesticides at farm and storage level, and proper post-harvest management practices.

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