Women rice processors in Kafingana village, Birnin Kudu Local Government Area of Jigawa have solicited support from Sasakawa Global 2000 in the form of loan to boost their capacity.
The Chairperson of the group, Malama Ladidi Haruna, made the call on behalf of the women on Saturday when the Country Director of Sasakawa Global 2000, Prof. Sani Ahmed-Miko visited the rice processing plant in the area.
“With additional support from Sasakawa, the association will diversify its business which will go a long way in enhancing the socio-economic status of our members,” she said.
She described Kafingana as one of the major rice producing areas in the state, saying that with additional support, the association will produce more of the commodity.
Also speaking, the Private Service Provider (PSP) in charge of maintaining the plant, Alhaji Sadiqu Abdu, said he had so far trained six mechanics and three operators to ensure effective maintenance of the two rice processing machines.
The machines, he said, were donated to the women rice processors by SG 2000 and International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD).
According to him, no fewer than 1,000 tonnes of paddy rice are being produced in the plant.
He, however, promised to link the rice processors with markets as the two processing plants had the capacity to process one tonne of paddy rice hourly.
Earlier in his remarks, the District Head of Kafingana, Alhaji Nasiru Munkaila, had advised the women to make the best use of the opportunity provided by SG 2000 to improve the living standard of their families.
On his part, Ahmed-Miko urged the women to be more committed to promoting the business in view of the fact that women were among the most vulnerable in the society.
He assured the women farmers group that the organisation would continue to support them as long as they remained focused on achieving the desired objective.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the SG 2000 team was in Jigawa in continuation of its media field day tour aimed at meeting with beneficiaries of its various intervention programmes.
The visit was also organised to enable SG 2000 to assess the success or otherwise of its various intervention programmes. (NAN)