The United States Agency for International Development (USAID)- supported West Africa Trade and Investment Hub has announced its first co-investment partnership with a Nigerian rice company based in Kebbi State.
The Trade Hub’s grant of $1.48 million to WACOT Rice Limited will directly support the company’s Argungu Rice Outgrower Expansion Project.
According to the agency, this will allow WACOT to onboard 5,143 rice farmers into its programme designed to improve the livelihoods of smallholders in the region and respond to food security concerns due to the pandemic.
USAID said the average smallholder farmer in Kebbi cultivates about a half of a hectare of land and earns less than $200 annually, which is barely sufficient to cover the needs of a household.
With little access to any form of finance, farmers are often unable to cultivate more land, or harvest better yields.
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