Nigeria's agricultural sector remains a dominant economic force, contributing 25 percent to the country’s GDP as of 2019. However, COVID-19 pandemic challenges hampered the sector's growth and expansion, impacting many smallholder and subsistence farmers. USADF grantee Women Farmers Advancement Network (WOFAN) was not immune to the negative impacts of COVID-19.

WOFAN, a network of cooperative societies owned by small-scale, low-income rice farmers in Northern Nigeria, struggled to access essential agricultural inputs like fertilizers, seeds, and pesticides need to sustain their operations. To mitigate the severity of the impact, USADF, through the USADF C.A.R.E.S COVID-19 Program, awarded WOFAN a $15,000 grant in 2020 to procure farm inputs and boost working capital for WOFAN members during the rice planting season.

With USADF support and technical assistance from USADF’s local partner in Nigeria, Diamond Development Initiatives, WOFAN procured and distributed farm inputs to over 2,400 members, helping to ensure they were ready for the planting season despite the pandemic. WOFAN also procured and provided all female rice processors each a ton of paddy rice.

These measures were effective and transformational.

WOFAN farmers increased their production from 60 bags per hectare pre-pandemic to between 80 and 100 bags per hectare, resulting in a total yield of about 2,000 metric tons of paddy. With capacity-building support, the rice processors are now able to convert harvested agricultural produce (paddy) into a Value-Added Product (rice), thereby increasing income for WOFAN which has increased its rice processing from 60 bags of rice per week to between 180 and 200 bags per week.

As we commemorate Women's History Month, USADF celebrates the resilience and zeal of WOFAN and its smallholder farmer members. We look forward to greater impact and improved livelihoods for WOFAN members and their families.