August 16, 2024

IYD: WOFAN ICON2 creates opportunities for PLWD, transporters, agric produce loaders

WOFAN-NEW-750x430

As Nigeria joins the rest of the world to mark this year’s International Youth Day, thousands of young agricultural loaders, transporters, and persons living with disabilities (PLWD) across Northern Nigeria have celebrated new opportunities created by the Women Farmers Advancement Network’s (WOFAN) ICON2 Project to have decent and sustainable jobs.

Under the ICON2 intervention, WOFAN designed a mini project to create decent and sustainable job opportunities for two groups of people that have not been receiving adequate attention in major mainstream interventions in the agricultural sector: loaders and transporters and PLWD.

About 9,000 youth, aged between 18 and 35, who are working as loaders and transporters along the agriculture value chain, as well as 57,750 young PLWD, are being supported to access new job pathways through the provision of cargo tricycles for transporting goods, the establishment of community seed production hubs and workspaces for processing, as well as vocations such as fashion design, fabrication, and mobile phone repairs.

Across communities in Kano, Kaduna, Jigawa, Bauchi, and Gombe states, as well as the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), 300 groups formed by young loaders and transporters received cargo tricycles to enhance and dignify their job opportunities and also boast their income, while 3,850 PWD with limited mobility received tricycles to improve their mobility and access to workspaces provided by the ICON2 project.

Speaking at one of the events in Kudai, Jigawa State, the Executive Director (ED) of WOFAN, Hajia Salamatu Garba, explained that the WOFAN ICON 2 project is funded by the Mastercard Foundation to support 675,000 youths across nine Nigerian states over a 5-year period to develop and maintain sustainable livelihoods and have an improved quality of life, in line with the Foundation’s bold Young Africa Works-Nigeria (2021-2030) strategy to enable 10 million youth in Nigeria (including 7 million young women) to secure dignified and fulfilling employment.

The WOFAN ED, who was represented by WOFAN’s Finance Manager, Abdulrasheed Abdulazeez, noted that WOFAN and the Foundation decided to carve out a mini project from the ICON2 Project to specifically target youth who are working as loaders and transporters as well as PWD because they are often given marginal attention by interventions.

“WOFAN saw the gaps and made a case for the expansion of the reach of the ICON2 Project to ensure loaders and transporters, as well as more PWD, benefited from the project. These groups are not only vulnerable, but they are also mostly ignored. Our partners, the Mastercard Foundation, agreed with us, and activities tailored towards creating decent and sustainable job opportunities for youth in the two categories were designed by  WOFAN,” she said.

The ED explained that in order to ensure that the youth in the two categories have a sure pathway to decent and sustainable job opportunities, they were mobilised to form groups of 30 members each. The groups received training on group formation and management dynamics, as well as enterprise management. She further explained that, based on the training, the groups were able to form clusters and start businesses with the support of the project.

She said, “The clusters formed business groups and started working together. While the loaders and transporters will now earn more income with their cargo tricycles provided by the project, some of the PWD groups are now into the production of seeds, which will be sold to other farmers in the community; some are into the processing of rice, groundnut, and maize; commercial fabrication of tools and equipment; and phone repairs in workspaces provided by the ICON2 Project after receiving training on production, processing, and vocations.”

Hajia Garba noted that the mobilisation, training, and provision of pathways to job opportunities for the youth in these categories will lead to impactful changes, not only for them but also for the community at large.

Speaking earlier, the Chief Imam of Kudai, Gwani Alaramma Malam Isah, commended WOFAN’s dedication to youth empowerment and supporting PWD. He noted that WOFAN ICON2’s support for the young loaders and transporters, as well as the PWD, will make them self-reliant.

 

Also speaking at the occasion, the Traditional Leader of Aujara (Hakimin Aujara), Alhaji Aminu Danmalam, commended WOFAN’s transformative work in Jigawa State. He pledged his support for WOFAN and the Mastercard Foundation at all times.

The mini-project of the WOFAN ICON 2 intervention, funded by the Mastercard Foundation, is supporting 9,000 young loaders and transporters, as well as 57,750 young persons with disabilities, across nine Nigerian states, to develop and maintain sustainable livelihoods and have an improved quality of life.

The mini-project is providing 300 cargo tricycles to loaders and transporters to enhance their access to decent job opportunities and supporting 385 seed production hubs formed by the PWD while also providing 385 workspaces for business and vocational developments.

To promote dignified movement and improved access to workspaces by PWD with limited mobility, the intervention is providing 385 modified motorbikes and 3,850 tricycles.