Nigerian women reap benefits from indigenous vegetables

Despite their potential, research has failed to prioritize indigenous vegetable species for improving food security, nutrition and income. The project worked with 1,200 farmers (50% women) who have formed 22 vegetable cooperative groups. Radio programs on popular FM stations in south-western Nigeria created awareness on production, utilization, and nutritional and health benefits of underutilized vegetables, reaching over 3 million listeners. There has been rapid expansion of the project sites, with more farmers joining the training. Given the successes recorded in the field in south-western Nigeria, the introduction of this system is adaptable to other areas of Africa

Assessment of the impact of communication strategy (Radio Jingle) on the awareness of and the production of indigenous vegetables in Southwestern Nigeria

This work was carried out with the aid of a grant from Canada’s International Development Research Centre (IDRC), and with financial support from the Government of Canada, provided through Global Affairs Canada (GAC)The IDRC-GAC (Global Affairs Canada) project on “Synergizing fertilizer micro-dosing and indigenous vegetable production to enhance food and economic security of West African farmers” project utilized a branded radio program “Ramo Elefo” (or Ramo, the Vegetable Seller) to create awareness about products and innovations promoted by the project as well as to effectively mobilize the general populace in adopting the innovations made popular by the project. The project intensively used three major mass media: radio, TV, newspapers/magazines. The media strategy reached up to 8 million people in Benin Republic and more than 10 million in Nigeria

Synergizing fertilizer micro-dosing and indigenous vegetable production to enhance food and economic security of West African farmers : final report

This work was carried out with the aid of a grant from Canada’s International Development Research Centre (IDRC), and with financial support from the Government of Canada, provided through Global Affairs Canada (GAC)This annex answers questions that arose from baseline reports regarding: educational level of farmers; land acquisition; land area under vegetable cultivation; current use of fertilizers by farmers and use of irrigation; ease of water supply and access; costs associated with accessing water; household consumption of vegetables; and disputes in relation to the use of irrigation water, with emphasis on gender distribution. This is a detailed report on surveys, with data tables included. The Nigeria-Canada Indigenous Vegetables Project (NiCanVeg) successfully developed new technologies that improved farming practices, post-harvest handling and value addition for Indigenous vegetables

Gender Assessment of Coping Strategies Adopted by Rural Households During Economic Recession: A Case of Osun State, Nigeria

The study assessed coping strategies adopted during economic recession by male and female members of rural households in Osun State, Nigeria. The study specifically examined the perceived causes of economic recession, investigated the perceived effects and identified the coping strategies adopted by the male and female members of the rural households during economic recession and their level of adoption. A multistage procedure was used to select 120 respondents from 6 local Government Areas of the State. An interview schedule was used to collect data from the respondents. The collected data were analysed using appropriate descriptive and inferential statistics such as frequency counts, percentages, means and independent T-test analysis. The mean ages of the male and female respondents were 45.2 ± 14.1 years and 37 ± 12.6 years respectively. The majority of the males (78.3%) and females (80%) were married with the mean household size of 7 ± 3 people for the male and 6 ± 2 for the female respondents. The cause of economic recession mostly perceived by the male and female respondents was poor economic planning (mean=3.87, 3.77), while prioritizing spending (mean=2.80, 2.52) was the most adopted strategy by both males and females. No significant difference was found in the effects of economic recession on the male and female respondents (t = -0.19; p >0.05) and likewise no significant difference was found in their economic recession coping strategies (t=0.115; p ≥ 0.05). The study concluded that there was no significant difference in the economic recession coping strategies between the male and female members of rural households in the study area

Impact assessment of production of indigenous vegetables in West Africa : MicroVeg Project

This work was carried out with the aid of a grant from Canada’s International Development Research Centre (IDRC), and with financial support from the Government of Canada, provided through Global Affairs Canada (GAC)The report aims to evaluate the impact of MICROVEG intervention, which is being implemented through the Innovation Platform (IP) systems in 51 Local Government Areas/Districts of two countries, Nigeria and Benin. The research focused on scaling up advancements in indigenous vegetables production to increase traditional vegetable yields while also preserving soil and water ecosystems, and conserving fertilizer costs. The project targeted four indigenous vegetables: Telfairia occidentalis (Ugu, Nigeria only), Amaranthus cruentus (aléfo), Ocimum gratissimum (tchiayo, Benin only) and Solanum macrocarpon (gboma). This paper reviews indicators of the programme’s success, and scaling up

Gender report : MicroVeg Project

This work was carried out with the aid of a grant from Canada’s International Development Research Centre (IDRC), and with financial support from the Government of Canada, provided through Global Affairs Canada (GAC)This gender analysis relates to the larger project “Synergizing fertilizer micro-dosing and indigenous vegetable production to enhance food and economic security of West African farmers (CIFSRF Phase 2).” The aim was to understand gender roles that may influence the adoption of MicroVeg innovations across gender lines. Thus, efforts focused on the MicroVeg farmers training sessions as well as interaction and observations on the farms. Innovations include water management, fertilizer micro-dosing, staking and seed production. On average across the project locations, the distribution of farmers according to gender was almost equal, being 51% male and 49% females