2SCALE has lifted agribusiness in Niger. The program identified the agricultural sector as one of the most significant sectors to add value, strengthen entrepreneurship and eventually enable low-income consumers to access nutritious products.
In Niger, 81% of all people live in rural areas and depend on agriculture. Yet with low rainfall it is a highly insecure and fragile sector. Ali Abdoulaye Hima explains the process of 2SCALE:
Given the context of agricultural business in Niger, I was not surprised that the sector is one of the highest potential areas for the overall program.
Staple crops, animal products, fresh produce and oil-seed farming were identified as industry areas most likely to benefit from the services the 2SCALE program offers. Therefore information sessions were organized with agricultural entrepreneurs of the whole value-chain to identify inclusive business ideas. This has resulted in four partnership notes so far, focusing on production and processing to low-income consumers.
In general, entrepreneurship is not well developed in Niger. Yet there clearly is a need and drive within the agricultural community, as the program has received much interest from business leaders in accessing the program services and establish a new partnership. It is encouraging to experience so much energy within the sector to strengthen access to nutrition together. I have confidence that we will be able to develop at least seven or eight sustainable partnerships before the program concludes.
Many people come to us with interesting, bankable and innovative business ideas. Unfortunately, we can’t facilitate all of them within the 2SCALE program. We sometime have to let go of very relevant ideas, but we do our best to find alternative ways to implement these fantastic ideas. We will have to develop processes to make sure that these ideas do not end up in a drawer.
There are so many opportunities in Niger for 2SCALE.
The sub sectors with high potential for achieving 2SCALE's objectives are onion, moringa, cassava, cow's milk, millet and groundnuts. The Niger team is also looking into expanding it's intervention areas to Agadez, which has a significant potential in onion production. Overall, we can say that the future of 2SCALE in Niger is bright, in terms of indicators and fruitful partnerships.