Women Farmers Build Marketing Hubs To Boost Agric Earnings

The Women Farmers Advancement Network (WOFAN), through its WOFAN-ICON2 Project, has established more than 105 marketing hubs across Nigeria to help farmers and processors improve their earnings, gain direct access to markets and take greater control of agricultural value chains.

Supported by the Mastercard Foundation, the initiative aims to move smallholder farmers and rural processors beyond dependence on informal markets and middlemen by providing structured platforms for the aggregation, processing and marketing of agricultural commodities.

The hubs are also designed to promote value addition, financial inclusion and sustainable employment, particularly for women, youths and persons with disabilities, while strengthening rural economies and food systems.

WOFAN group executive board vhair and country director of the WOFAN-ICON2 Project, Dr Salamatu Garba, said the facilities were conceived as more than trading centres, but as platforms for linking farmers to reliable markets and creating dignified employment.

Garba, who was represented at the inauguration of a new marketing hub in Chiromawa, Garun Mallam Local Government Area of Kano State, by WOFAN finance officer, Abdulrasheed Abdulazeez, said the intervention was aimed at addressing the limited returns often earned by farmers who depend on middlemen to market their products.

She said the hubs would enable them to participate more effectively in agricultural value chains by improving their access to markets and opportunities for value addition.

“Today, these hubs have become vibrant centres of economic activity where youths work as traders, loaders and service providers, while women are deeply involved in processing and value addition,” she said.

According to a statement, WOFAN said the Chiromawa facility is the fourth of its marketing hub in Kano State, following similar interventions in Tudun Wada, Kura and Karfi.

The hubs are expected to strengthen agricultural commerce by creating accessible points where farmers and processors can market their products, improve their bargaining power and connect with larger markets.

The statement noted that the Tudun Wada hub, for instance, reportedly facilitates the movement of more than 50 trailers of goods daily to other parts of Nigeria and neighbouring Niger Republic.

According to Hajia Maimuna Lawal, Strategies, Innovation and Sustainability (SIS) at WOFAN, the Chiromawa hub would give women greater control over their marketing activities while enabling them to apply negotiation skills acquired through WOFAN programmes.

She said the intervention was intended to improve women’s profitability, strengthen their participation in decision-making and contribute to the development of local economies and food systems.

The Chiromawa Market Leader, Mustapha Haruna, welcomed the facility, saying its benefits would extend beyond the women beneficiaries to the wider community.

WOFAN Kano State Desk Officer, Dayyabu Abubakar, said the hub was specifically designed to promote economic inclusion by providing accessible infrastructure for women-led businesses.

He explained that the facility comprises three shops, with one serving as an office where members can discuss challenges and develop business strategies, while the other two are dedicated to commercial activities.

A youth mega-cluster leader, Tasiu Ibrahim, said modern rice and grain-processing machines provided through the intervention, together with solar-powered lighting, had enabled women and youths to operate in shifts during the day and at night.

Community partners said women were increasingly participating in both farming and processing, while persons with disabilities had also been integrated into economic activities, including jute-bag production.

Under the five-year WOFAN-ICON2 Project, beneficiaries across Adamawa, Bauchi, Benue, Gombe, Jigawa, Kaduna, Kano, Nasarawa and the Federal Capital Territory have also received improved seeds, fertilisers, agrochemicals, processing equipment and starter packs.

The project aligns with the Mastercard Foundation’s Young Africa Works–Nigeria Strategy and seeks to create sustainable employment opportunities by improving access to markets, strengthening agricultural enterprises and enabling women, youths and persons with disabilities to earn more from agriculture.