October 30, 2024

Empowering Women Groundnut Processors through Financing in the Gaya Agribusiness Cluster (ABC)

Soy and Oil Seeds

Niger

Located in the Gaya department of the Dosso region, 254 km southeast of the capital Niamey, and near the borders with Benin and Nigeria, Gaya is a key town for trade and agriculture in Niger. This dynamic town, with its young and growing population, hosts a large market that sells a variety of local products, including groundnuts.

In Gaya, women play a crucial role in the groundnut production and processing sectors, contributing significantly to household food security and the local economy. Despite their importance, these women face challenges such as limited access to finance, land, and equipment, which severely limits their potential.

To address these challenges and improve the groundnut sector, the AINOMA Business Champion, in collaboration with the 2SCALE programme, developed a business idea with the aim of relaunching the groundnut sector through the inclusion of rural women and young people, while increasing the productivity and quality of groundnut-based products.

To achieve this, the partnership set up a financial mechanism between women producers and the business champion, AINOMA, enabling women producers to pay for their inputs through microfinance institutions and produce and sell their groundnuts to AINOMA.

MECREF: A Solution for Access to Finance for Women Groundnut Growers in the Gaya ABC

Women groundnut producers and processors in the Gaya ABC have long struggled to access financing needed to develop their activities. The lack of guarantees and the constraints associated with traditional bank loans have been real obstacles to their economic emancipation. However, in recent years, innovative initiatives have emerged, offering new prospects to these women. One such initiative is the collaboration with the Mutuelle d'Épargne et de Crédit des Femmes (MECREF).

MECREF is a microfinance institution that promotes equal opportunities and rights. It aims to improve the resilience of vulnerable groups, helping them escape economic dependence. MECREF supports women and young people by offering loans with sliding-scale rates, empowering them to become economically independent and achieve autonomy on the path to equality.

Starting in 2022, MECREF set up a specific support programme for women producers and processors in this ABC. This programme includes the granting of microcredit: almost 800 women in the Dosso region have benefited from initial financing of 100,000frs ($165) to invest in their production tools, improve the quality of their products or develop their marketing network.

To access the funding, the women producers in the Gaya ABC were first linked with MECREF to obtain the liquidity they needed to develop their activities. Unfortunately, this initial relationship was disrupted by a logistical difficulty, albeit minor, but significant for the producers, which caused a delay in the loan procedures from MECREF.

Safia, a member of the Producers' Organisation (PO) in Gaya and a groundnut processor in Tenda, explains:

With MECREF, we did experience one difficulty, although it was minor, and that was the group travel from the villages to the town to collect the lines of credit.

Fortunately, this situation was not destabilising, and the groundnut growers were finally able to go to the town and benefit from the institution's loans.

Safia goes on to say:

We had access to financing from MECREF and kept our promises in terms of repayment. The repayment rate was 100% because a system was put in place to monitor credit lines. The team included the ABC coach, the institution's credit officer, and the PO's managers. This strategy resulted in a 100% repayment rate. Access to credit enabled us to contribute to family expenses (health, food, and children's education). And for those who don't want bank loans, a model was set up for us: Village Savings and Loans Associations (VSLAs) to build our own financial base.

VSLAs were set up in the Gaya ABC in 2023, and weekly contributions of 500frs ($0.83) enabled women to take out loans from these savings to develop income-generating activities.

When it comes to selling their products, the 2SCALE programme also facilitated linkages between women producers and traders or other processing companies, enabling them to sell their produce quickly and with guarantees.

MECREF's support for the women in this partnership has improved their financial independence.

Investing in skills, harvesting autonomy

The training facilitated by 2SCALE as part of its youth inclusion, gender and financial inclusion approaches has truly transformed farming practices in Gaya. By equipping farmers with a wide range of skills, from managing a farmers' organisation to mastering the latest production techniques, these courses have not only increased their productivity but also strengthened their autonomy. Women’s roles and opportunities have evolved contributing to gender equity in the agricultural sector.

The land doesn't lie. Groundnut production can not only promote self-employment, but also create employment opportunities for many young people in ploughing, sowing, watering and harvesting, as well as in other types of service such as transport and sales.

Shares Zaliya SIDIKOU, groundnut processor from Tenda (Gaya village).

Thanks to this new knowledge, the women farmers of Gaya are better equipped to face the challenges of climate change, improve the quality of their products and access new markets. The active participation of women producers in the regular meetings shows their ownership of these tools and their desire to work collectively for sustainable development. These initiatives are fully in line with the sustainable development objectives, contributing to food security, the eradication of poverty and the empowerment of youth and women.

Projecting towards a sustainable future

The Gaya ABC, a group of ambitious women and dynamic farmers' organisations, aims to become a benchmark in Niger's agricultural sector. By focusing on the production and processing of groundnuts, they aim not only for financial autonomy but also for the creation of local jobs, thereby addressing one of the country's major challenges. Their success could inspire a new generation of young people and women to embrace agriculture as a vehicle for personal and collective development.

As Zaliya SIDIKOU points out,

I am very proud as a young girl. The battle I am waging today in agriculture can serve the youth of Niger by inspiring them to take up entrepreneurship in this sector.

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