By Usman Muhammed Zaria
Women farmers in Kwalam community of Gwaram Local Government Area of Jigawa State say the intervention of the Sasakawa Africa Association (SAA) has significantly changed the way women process rice in their communities.
Speaking to newsmen during a field visit, the women explained that they can now process more rice within a shorter period and produce cleaner, higher-quality rice that attracts more customers.
Malama Hauwa Abdullahi who is also a rice processor, said value addition had also enabled the women to earn more from rice processing, helping them contribute to household expenses.
Hauwa called on Sassakawa and the Jigawa state government, to sustain the support and expand it to more women in other communities.
Another processor, Amina Musa, said the intervention had given women renewed confidence to regard rice processing as a viable business.
“Previously, many of us saw rice processing as just something we did to support our families”.
She noted that, with the equipment and knowledge they have acquired, they now see it as a business that can generate income.
Also speaking, a rice producer in Kaura, a community of Taura local government area, Malama Fatima Umar said the intervention had demonstrated the importance of supporting women in the agricultural value chain.
She said rice production alone was not enough to maximise the economic benefits of the crop, stressing the need for effective processing, packaging and marketing.
Fatima pointed out that, farmers produce the rice, but women like them add value before it reaches the consumers.
According to her, when the processing is improved, everybody benefits which include the farmer, processor, trader and consumer.
Another processor, Malama Maryam Adamu, commended the training provided to women, saying it had improved their understanding of hygiene, quality control and business management.
She said the women were now more conscious of producing rice that could compete favourably with imported and commercially processed alternatives.
She called for further training in packaging, branding and access to markets to enable rural women to earn more from their products.
The women also appealed for improved access to affordable finance, storage facilities and reliable electricity to sustain the gains recorded in rice processing.
They said continued collaboration between the government, development organisations and local communities would strengthen the rice value chain and create more employment opportunities.
The women expressed optimism that sustained investment in agricultural value addition would help reduce rural poverty and improve the economic status of women in Jigawa state.
Radio Nigeria reports that, the women described the SAA intervention as a practical example of how targeted support could transform rural livelihoods when women were placed at the centre of agricultural development.
Editing By Yusuf Zubairu
