81274030-Supporting agricultural value chain development in Nigeria with a focus on women and youth empowerment

In 2014, the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) launched the special initiative "One World No Hunger" with the aim to make significant contributions to the reduction of poverty and hunger. The global programme "Green Innovation Centers for the Agriculture and Food Sector" is part of this initiative. In Nigeria, the Green Innovation Centre supports actors along the four agricultural value chains maize, cassava, rice and Irish potato, with the aim to improve the income and productivity of small-scale farmers, to create employment opportunities and to foster entrepreneurial development. The target group of the project in Nigeria are smallholder farmers and micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) upstream and downstream of the value chains. A strong focus lies on the promotion and empowerment of women and youth in the sector. Through a multi-level approach, the project is working with relevant governmental, private and civil society actors at local, regional and national level to: 1. Promote local innovation systems 2. Support capacity development, and 3. Foster sustainable agribusiness. Two extension modules on improved nutrition and agricultural finance, provide complementary activities. The objective of the tender is to (1) provide actors in the supported smallholder farms with innovations that increase productivity and income and address climate change, and (2) provide actors in the supported upstream and downstream enterprises with innovations that improve business performance and create employment. In addition, the activities will include the promotion of adopting the disseminate innovations among the target group. All innovations shall be implemented and designed to allow for horizontal or vertical scaling-up. The interventions are implemented in close cooperation with the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (FMARD), the Federal Department of Agricultural Extension (FDAE) and the Agricultural Development Programmes (ADP) working within agricultural extension on state level. In addition, key stakeholders and actors along the value chain (such as micro, small and medium enterprises) are strongly engaged in the project. This ensures long-term sustainability for all activities.