ActionAid Nigeria and CITAD commission a grinding and milling machine for women in Kilankwa II community, Kwali Area Council, FCT.
Women in Kilankwa II community, Kwali Area Council of the Federal Capital Territory, have received a grinding and milling machine aimed at improving their incomes and reducing the burden of processing farm produce manually.
ActionAid Nigeria, in partnership with the Centre for Information Technology and Development (CITAD), provided the facility through the Local Rights Programme.
At the commissioning of a grinding and milling facility in Abuja on Friday, ActionAid Nigeria said it invested N5.823 million in the milling machine and the building housing the facility.
The Country Director of ActionAid Nigeria, Andrew Mamedu, represented by the organisation’s Local Rice Programme Specialist, Kehinde Arowosegbe, said the intervention was designed to address economic barriers facing rural women.
He said the project was more than the provision of equipment, describing it as an investment in women’s economic independence and community development.
According to him, women in rural communities play a major role in household welfare, food security and local economic activities but often lack access to productive resources.
He urged the women to manage the facility as a community-owned asset and ensure transparency in its operation and maintenance.
Mr Arowosegbe also called on government to build on interventions by development organisations and provide more support for communities.
He cited an example of a local government chairman who donated two boats after ActionAid provided one to a riverine community, saying such partnerships could expand the impact of development interventions.
Contributing, ActionAid Nigeria’s Local Rights Programme Advisor, Hajara Opaluwa-Adamu, said ActionAid Nigeria is committed to monitoring the impact of the project, with the broader goal of helping residents move out of poverty. “It plans to lifting at least 1,000 people out of poverty in the community before 2030”.
On his part, the Executive Director of CITAD, Yunusa Zakari, represented by Johnson Musa, said the milling machine is a response to a need identified by the community and urged the management committee established by the community to operate the facility with transparency, accountability and fairness. “The machine belongs to the community and should serve everyone,” he said.
CITAD said the project followed years of engagement with Kilankwa II under the Local Rights Programme.
“We had previously supported women through training in agriculture, financial independence and Village Savings and Loan Associations, The women later identified the need to process their farm produce locally, particularly cassava, as their agricultural activities expanded”.
Also CITAD programme officer Yesmin Salako, explained that the milling machine was therefore a community-driven intervention rather than a project imposed from outside.
According to her, women had used training in agro-ecology and access to low-interest loans through savings groups to expand their farming and businesses. “The new facility, would enable them to process their produce more efficiently and potentially increase the value of what they sell”.
The traditional leader of Kilankwa community, Madaki Yahya Alhassan, commended ActionAid Nigeria and CITAD for the intervention. “The community had not formally requested the machine but welcomed the organisation’s decision to provide it”.
Mr Alhassan urged residents to protect the facility and use income generated from it to maintain the machine and sustain the project.
He also appealed for further support for women, electricity, roads and other community infrastructure. “The intervention had already encouraged more women to engage in economic activities”.
By News Scope Africa
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