Florence Adidi, Abuja
An agricultural expert has appealed for stronger engagement with smallholder farmers at the grassroots level to better understand their challenges and develop practical solutions that can strengthen food security across Nigeria.
The Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Farm Eaze Global Limited, Mr Michael Adeyiwolu, appealed to the Wuna Community, Gwagwalada Area Council of Abuja, after distributing farming inputs and a rice threshing machine to local farmers.
He explained that the donation was intended to ease the workload of women and reduce post-harvest losses in the community.
“If the government, through its officials, can pay more regular visits to grassroots communities, they will be in a better position to understand the specific needs of the people and be more effective in providing targeted support,” Mr Adeyiwolu said.
He stressed that smallholder farmers remain the backbone of Nigeria’s food production system and called for stronger collaboration between government agencies and advocates working closely with rural communities.
“Agriculture is the new oil. And since, in Nigeria, agriculture is still largely practised at the local level, the need for the government to be more involved in the growth and empowerment of practitioners can never be overemphasised,” he added.
Mr Adeyiwolu said his organisation has continued to fill critical gaps in the sector by combining advocacy with direct engagement in rural areas.
“At Farm Eaze Global Limited, we believe that the grassroots are the ones feeding the nation. So we go to them, seek opportunities to partner with them, and help improve their livelihoods, productivity, and overall well-being,” he said.
Speaking on the company’s pilot project in Wuna Community, Mr Adeyiwolu said the initiative recorded “one hundred per cent eaze and recovery,” attributing the achievement to the strong support of local leadership.
We involved the Chief of the community, who helped us identify trustworthy natives to receive our inputs. We conducted monitoring afterwards and, to God be the glory, we achieved excellent results. The people respected their Chief’s involvement, and that made a big difference,” he explained.
Mr Adeyiwolu also clarified that the introduction of the threshing machine was not intended to displace women who traditionally thresh rice manually, but rather to create new income opportunities for them.
“The idea is not to take employment from the women but to introduce them to other value chains that can be derived from rice post-harvest processes — opportunities they can tap into to increase their income streams,” he said.