September 26, 2022

Empowering Fulani Women as Micro-entrepreneurs in the Dairy Sector in Nigeria

Animal Production Related

Nigeria

It is a well-known saying in the dairy sector that women own the milk while men own the cows. In many countries, women play significant roles in different agricultural value chains but are often faced with challenges hindering them from making tangible economic impact. They often lack access to information, education, skills, resources, and finances that can enable them to become financially independent.

To empower Fulani women, the partnership between Friesland Campina Wamco (FCW) and 2SCALE conducted a needs assessment in October 2021 targeting women in Kwara and Oyo state dairy clusters. This assessment identified the gaps in finance and business management skills of these women. This outcome resulted in a women-only training and empowerment program in Kwara and Oyo states consecutively, in June 2022. The training participants were selected from Ajase and Yetoore Allah cooperatives in Kwara state and Fashola and Alaga cooperatives in Oyo state. 25 women from each cooperative were selected making a total of 125 women. The training entailed record keeping, business management skills, customer relations, value proposition, and marketing.

To further equip them to start up or enhance their businesses, the women were given start-up kits containing FCW products such as Frieso, three crown milk, powdered sachet peak milk, Peak 123, branded umbrellas, and chairs. The community leaders/Business Support Service (BSS) coaches in the communities were also integrated into the training to leverage support for these women to grow and sustain their businesses.

Impact of the training on the women’s finances

Speaking with one of the beneficiaries, Ms. Abdulsalam Adama Jumoke, a petty provision seller and member of Ajase Ipo cooperative community said:

From the training, I learnt how to sell and market my goods to members of my community. I usually go from house to house to let them know that I have different milk products available for sale. My husband and my children also help me to tell their friends as well. The training has really helped us in this community because now most of us do not need to go far to access these products

Using the profits, Abdulsalam has expanded her business. This income has benefited her livelihood since she is now in a position to support her husband in raising and educating their children. For her, the main challenge is that due to the close proximity of other beneficiaries selling similar products in her community, sales are at times low. She however hopes to rent a shop in order to make transactions easier and provide consumers with a consistent location where they can purchase the products.

Women from Allah cooperative in Kwara state have not been left behind. They too have used learnings from the capacity building to further enhance their businesses. One such woman is Ms. Latifat Sakoriyau. She has been supplying fresh milk to FCW for over 10 years and having another source of income is helping her become more financially capable to take up responsibilities at home. She narrates:

The training and empowerment have given me more insights into the opportunities that exist in selling processed milk products. Although processed milk is not very common in our community, I take the products to the market to sell to other people and I have been making a lot of sales. Thanks to the training, I now have the skills of a marketer. I learnt insights on how to price and sell the products.

Using the profits, Abdulsalam has expanded her business. This income has benefited her livelihood since she is now in a position to support her husband in providing for the family and chipping in for school fees for their children. For her, the main challenge is that due to the close proximity of other beneficiaries selling similar products in her community, sales are at times low. She however hopes to rent a shop in order to make transactions easier and provide consumers with a consistent location where they can purchase the products.

The training and empowerment have given me more insights into the opportunities that exist in selling processed milk products. Although processed milk is not very common in our community, I take the products to the market to sell to other people and I have been making a lot of sales. Thanks to the training, I now have the skills of a marketer. I learnt insights on how to price and sell the products.

On average, Ms. Latifat sells about 4-10 products weekly and makes over 12000 naira ($27.55) profit per month. This additional income has enhanced her livelihood and she hopes to expand her business by stocking more products that can complement what she currently sells.

For the women in Fashola cooperative in Oyo state, they opted for a different approach. As opposed to selling the products as individuals, they came together and selected one woman who sells all the products gotten from FCW. She owns a retail shop in the locality and stocking products from FCW is a strategy to win more clients to her shop due to the diversity of the products.

They then split the profit and reinvest their capital into the business based on the sales made. This was done because the women live in the same community and they deemed it counterproductive for them to sell the same product separately. They aim to add on to the range of products to maximize profits.

Challenges encountered in some of the Cooperatives

Despite the resounding success and uptake of the activity as an economic empowerment opportunity, some challenges have been faced.

Some women have not made significant sales due to their close proximity to one another. They were all given similar products, which has resulted in slow sales. Another issue is that some members of their community buy on credit and take a long to repay. This is attributed to the fact that the Fulani community in these clusters is made up of low-income earners, many of whom do not have enough income to pay cash. This situation has made the traders who sell on credit incur losses and slow the growth of their businesses.

The women also highlighted the low acceptability levels of baby food (Frieso). They attributed this to the fact that is a processed product and mothers prefer alternative food for their children, such as pap (a semi-liquid made from maize, millet, or sorghum). They also cited that Frieso is expensive based on the income levels of the consumers. To provide a solution for this challenge, the partnership has intervened and the baby food will be exchanged for other fast-moving, cheaper, and easier-to-sell products, as per the feedback given.

This partnership holds women's economic empowerment at heart. Integrating local Fulani milk producers (mostly women) into the supply chain leads to women economic empowerment, providing more avenues for them to explore sustainable ventures along the dairy value chain.

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