Increasing Economic Opportunity for Tomato and Rice Farmers in Nigeria

TechnoServe and Syngenta partnered to increase the incomes of tomato and rice farmers in Nigeria by training them in best agricultural and post-harvest practices and connecting them with the inputs and networks they need to make their farming businesses thrive.

In Nigeria, a current disparity between the supply and demand for rice and tomato offers a promising opportunity for farmers – despite the country’s soaring demand for these products and its vast areas of arable land, Nigeria is not self-sufficient in these crops. To help farmers capitalize on this untapped market opportunity, we provided training on best practices that help farmers to improve their production, decrease post-harvest losses and increase their incomes. The program also amplified the impact of these increased yields by training farmers in business skills, helping them to organize into farmers’ organizations and facilitating direct market connections with buyers who can pay a premium price for their rice and tomato crops. Over the course of the project, more than 6,600 farmers received training on good agricultural practices.