Agribusiness - A Tool for the Empowerment of Rural Women
To fast-track development of the agricultural sector of the Nigerian economy; by providing credit facilities to commercial agriculture enterprises at a single digit interest rate.
About You
About You
First Name
Sonigitu
Last Name
Ekpe
Twitter URL
Facebook URL
htp://www.facebook.com/sekpe
About Your Organization
Organization Name
Cross River Farm Credit Scheme, Ministry of Agriculture and Natural Resources
Organization Website
Organization Country
Nigeria, XX, Calabar
Country where this project is creating social impact
Nigeria, XX, Calabar
Is your organization a
Government
How long has your organization been operating?
1‐5 years
Has the organization received awards or honors? Please tell us about them
How organisation has received honors to present a project at the Investment Fair, during the first Global Conference on Agriculture, Food Security and Climate change held at The Hague, The Netherlands in 2010.
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Innovation
Name Your Entry
Agribusiness - A Tool for the Empowerment of Rural Women
Select the stage that best applies to your solution
Idea (you're poised to launch)
How long have you been in operation?
Still in idea phase, but looking to launch soon
The Need: What problem are you trying to solve?
At the start of the farming year, women need information about fertilizers, seeds types, prices, and weather information. The UN has declared 2012 as the year of Rural women, making women's empowerment in agricultural development a priority theme. The importance of addressing gender equality and empowerment of women for global economic and social development and the need for increased attention to rural areas are also recognized in key global frameworks. Rural women play a critical role in rural economies and societies in both developing and developed countries. Across the world, rural women have proven their commitment and resourcefulness in finding and adapting new ways to improve their own lives, as well as those of their families and communities.
The Solution: What is your solution? Be specific!
To set up a multi-purpose center, equipped with a variety of ICTs, which would help input dealers and researchers to work with extension officers and women farmers to develop agribusiness. Today's farmers need to adapt to by making the required transition from being simple "producers" to becoming "managers" of an agricultural enterprise, armed with the latest technologies, know-how and understanding of the market. Creation of a website for the collection of news and events relevant to the topic, and a range of video, audio, text and photo stories from a range of communities. Helping with the commercialization of products, providing the local population with a wide range of healthy fruits and vegetables while ensuring women earn a higher income.
The Model: Walk us through a specific example of how your solution makes a difference; include your primary activities
The center aims at contributing to rural women's empowerment by exploring agricultural entrepreneurship as well as additional, farm related components of the rural economy contributing to income generation and employment, taking in consideration the adaptability of methods and technologies, to meet local conditions. I will put in place a dynamic, holistic approach that tackles both the agricultural value chain and the agricultural financing value chain. This in turn will offer two things at once; fixing the agricultural value chain, so that banks can lend with confidence to the sector and encouraging banks to lend to the agricultural value chain by offering them strong incentives and technical assistance. I hope to increase the awareness of issues relevant to young women, create spaces for young women to dialogue. I also intend to foster healthy interpersonal relationships leading to social and academic success, keep young women engaged in and connected to school, empower young women to be agents of change and actively partner with community agencies, using the Farmer Field School as a platform.
The Marketplace: Who are your peers and competitors? Identify others also working to address the needs you are and what differentiates you from them. What challenges could these players pose to your success or growth?
Some information providers send updated market information to farmers'cell phones. But this efforts is not effective, and our observations shows that most farmers are not aware of these services. One challenges facing the world is to ensure that everybody has access to adequate food that is healthy, safe and of high nutritional quality.
We recommend that cell phone companies establish a wider, affordable and effective service offering instant market prices and additional, relevant market information. We also suggest developing the existing money transfer systems using cell phones in order to make the service more reliable and affordable in rural areas where banking services are limited. Reducing incident of robbery. The challenges these players pose is access to investment capital.
Social Impact
This Entry is about (Issues)
What solution(s) does your initiative address to better the lives of girls and women by leveraging technology? (select all applicable)
Access to economic opportunity.
What has been the impact of your solution to date?
Many women have already had to adapt to their environment. They currently work in extreme conditions and have developed ways to grow crops in very dry or wet land. And researchers are now also realizing how this indigenous knowledge can help to enhance scientific knowledge.
What is your projected impact over the next 1-3 years?
1. Improve communication and management skills.
2. Using audio conferencing technology to involve farmers in regular meetings with agricultural officers, and a variety of agricultural experts, agronomists, ICT professionals and researches from various institutions.
3. The use of GIS, SMS, video and the web to gather data and make it available to the community, were it can be applied to influence policies related to the area.
Winning entries present a strong plan for how they will achieve and track growth. Identify your six-month milestone for growing your impact
Forecasts for a fairer future
Identify three major tasks you will have to complete to reach your six-month milestone
Task 1
Set up the center with a VSAT Internet connection, computers, video players, portable camcorders, telephone and one motorcycle
Task 2
Create data base for women contact for participation in training sessions
Task 3
Recruit 2 ICTs experts, 1 agribusiness developer, 15 local young women, aged between 19 to 34
Now think bigger! Identify your 12-month impact milestone
Technology will be very useful for gathering and disseminating this information quickly, and to a wider audience.
Identify three major tasks you will have to complete to reach your 12-month milestone
Task 1
Scaling up pathways to intensifying staple food production, improving food quality; human nutrition and increase income.
Task 2
Open and distance learning strategy – which will offer innovative combinations of flexible teaching methods -
Task 3
Biodiversity conservation and eradication of pove
Founding Story: We want to hear about your "Aha!" moment. Share the story of where and when the founder(s) saw this solution's potential to change the world.
During the presentation of a project at the investment fair at the first Global Conference on Agriculture, food security and Climate change with the title:-Sustainable Pactices in Agriculture for Women and the Environment (SPAWE)which seeks to enhance and improve the womenfolk’s by providing basis for mobilizing rural women towards sustainable environmental management and promoting rapid economic growth through good agricultural practices. This involves adopting a set of resource-conserving cultivation techniques, through the promotion of zero - tillage cultivation – a crop management technique in which women farmers plant seeds and crowns in unploughed fields to maxima gains from intensive double cropping and to lower production costs, with the added benefits of reducing land degradation, conserving soil fertility and economizing on scare water resources.
Creating new agricultural jobs, and providing the market with new supplies.
Sustainability
Tell us about your partnerships
We will involve the women and young girls while partnering with AgeCare Foundation a Non-for-profit organisation, universities, international/national research institutes, multi-national corporations, micro-finance banks, and commonwealth of learning.
Please elaborate on any needs or offers you have mentioned above and/or suggest categories of support that aren't specified within the list
| Attachment | Size |
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| lady_impacting_ict_knowledge.jpg | 365.08 KB |
| women_willing_to_learn.jpg | 383.52 KB |
 | 46 weeks ago Sonigitu Ekpe updated this Competition Entry. |
| 46 weeks ago Sonigitu Ekpe updated this Competition Entry. |
| 46 weeks ago Sonigitu Ekpe updated this Competition Entry. |
| 46 weeks ago Sonigitu Ekpe updated this Competition Entry. |
| 46 weeks ago Sonigitu Ekpe submitted this idea. |
