Abuja, Nigeria – A new initiative in Nigeria is empowering women at the grassroots level through backyard farming, aiming to bolster household food security and economic resilience. The Farms, Flowers and Allied Products Initiative (FFAPI) recently launched a sensitization program in Abuja, bringing together development partners, women leaders, and community members to equip women with practical skills for sustainable home-based food production.
The initiative comes as food prices continue to rise and climate change impacts agricultural output, making household-level food production increasingly vital.
Christy Sani Yakubu, President of FFAPI and convener of the initiative, highlighted the transformative potential of backyard farming beyond simply growing vegetables. “It is a powerful tool for household resilience, especially for women who are often the primary providers of food and nutrition within the family,” she stated in her keynote address. She encouraged participants to explore how even small spaces, whether in containers or backyard plots, can become productive and income-generating assets. The National Council of Women Societies (NCWS) has strongly endorsed the program, with its National President, Princess Edna D. D. Azura, calling it “timely, visionary, and in direct alignment with NCWS’s advocacy for women-led food systems.”
Represented by Comfort Ahua, the NCWS declared backyard farming a “life-changing tool for food security, nutrition, and economic resilience.” They urged stakeholders to increase investment in practical, grassroots solutions that address food insecurity and poverty at the household level, envisioning a future where women transition “from backyard gardens to agribusiness boardrooms.”The Dorothy Njemanze Foundation (DNF) also offered its support, emphasizing that backyard farming contributes not only to food production but also to women’s dignity, healing, and economic independence. The foundation noted that such programs offer “hope, healing through productivity and purpose” for many of the women and girls they assist, commending FFAPI and NCWS for recognizing women as agents of change. Cornelius Agenyi, Executive Director of the Farmers Aggregators Initiative of Nigeria (FAIN), described the program as “timely and strategic,” aligning with national agricultural goals for smallholder inclusion. He stressed that empowering women through backyard farming is an innovative way to improve livelihoods and reinforces women’s critical role in shaping sustainable agricultural practices.
A key part of the program was a hands-on training session led by Sunfay Obasi from the Federal Ministry of Agriculture. Participants received practical demonstrations on effective backyard farming techniques. The session concluded with the distribution of seedlings, including tomatoes, pepper, okra, and various vegetables, providing a crucial start-up boost for their home gardens and symbolizing a step towards household agricultural transformation
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