Youth Farming to Eliminate Hunger in Rural Nigeria

To: Our LMF Esteemed Hero

A Recap

Our Youth Farming Project to Eliminate Hunger in rural Nigeria, is one born out of passion. Lady Mitz Foundation cares deeply about the youth in rural Nigeria and wants to empower them and equip them with proper modern farming skills in order to combat hunger insecurities. In addition, we are creating a livelihood for these young people, impacting the community at large. According to research, the agribusiness sector is estimated to reach $1 trillion (USD) by 2030. The African continent is home to almost two-thirds of the world's land. Yet, Africa's small to medium scale entrepreneurs are marginalized.  With almost 60% of Africa's population being under 25 years of age, 60% of unemployed Africans are young adults and only 2% of African graduates specialize in Agriculture. This emphasizes the need to inform, equip and empower the African youth so they can take advantage of the resources the continent has to offer. Allowing them to improve the economy, combat food insecurity and secure jobs.

With the partnership of GlobalGiving and the support of kind and generous donors like you, we have been able to implement this project from humble beginnings to a robust harvest.  We couldn’t have done this without your full support and donations. We are incredibly glad that we can count on your continuous support as we move to the next phase of this life changing experience for our youths.  Thank you!

Overview of the Project

The Project is divided into 3 phases which include:

1. Recruitment of youths for the program.
2.  Training on effective farming skills and farming
3. Harvest and Empowerment

An induction of the 20 young farmers into the cohort was done in January, 2022. After which they were educated on the objectives and goals of the project. They were trained on modern farming skills and were equipped with basic techniques needed in farming. The youth farmers were also given a monthly stipend throughout the course of the project.

Youth Farmers recruited for the project

  PROJECT INPUT

1.  A plot of land was acquired for the project
2. Needed tools and equipment were purchased for the project implementationsuch as farming hoes, sun hats, rakes, cutlasses, rope, etc.
3. Seeds and organic manure were purchased
4. Training of the recruited youth farmers
5. Monthly meeting with the youth farmers and mentoring sessions

Challenges

1. Inconsistent rainfall
2. Other

Our youth successfully planted a corn farm this year. They started with clearing the bushes to make farm land, then planted and grew corn to harvest fresh produce.  During this process they learned the various manual farming skills, as well as peer relations and group dynamics,etc.

Upcoming Activities Include

Youth Gathering Session and End of Year celebration in December with the community.

To wrap up the project for the year, the youth farmers are preparing for a Lady Mitz Foundation Day celebration in which they will entertain the community with food, dance, skits, etc. The youths will have a forum session where they talk about their experiences, strengths, weaknesses, progress and challenges.  They will also exhibit some of their harvested crops.

We are happy to bring you good news and progress each time and happy that we can count on your support. Thank you.

National GivingTuesday is around the corner and GlobalGiving will be matching funds again for our project on November 29, 2022. We are counting on you to donate to help our project win matching funds and also ask some of your friends to help us too and here’s why.

GlobalGiving is offering a $1,200,000 Incentive Fund that will be distributed to participants proportionally based on final fundraising totals and this means the more our organization raises, the more prize money our project will earn! We need your donation and we also need you to help us tell a friend about our good work and ask them to support us.  We need more donors to help us win matching funds.

You are supporting a project that is engaging young people, providing them a means of livelihood while equipping them with skills to be independent. Yes, this is what we are doing with your donations and they are transitioning to planting other crops while preparing for the business aspect of farming like selling and preserving farm produce, and we need your help to continue to make impact on the lives of these youths.  They will remember you LMF Team of heroes, “Your good deeds are not invisible because they leave a trail that is imprinted on the hearts of our youths”; you are the best and God will continue to bless you and yours, Amen.

We will keep you informed about the progress on this project. If you have any comments, advice, or question, please feel free to direct them to us @ info@ladymitz.org and our telephone is 1(631) 827-6777

Links:

• LMF /GG Youths Farming Project -Happy Thanksgiving Message
• LMF /GG Youths Farming Project Harvest Dance'22