By Ayo Alonge

Leading food and beverage company, Nestlé Nigeria Plc, has partnered with TechnoServe to empower 5,000 small-scale farmers with the target of supplying high-quality maize, soybeans, millet and sorghum to Nestlé.

Both  firms, in a joint statement, recently, announced the launch of the Developing Inclusive Grain Value Chains project.

The seven-month project will enable more inclusive and transparent sourcing of maize, soybeans, millet and sorghum for Nestlé’s operations in Nigeria.

Incorporating smallholders into a value chain like Nestlé’s will not only benefit the farmers—who will see increased incomes from selling into stable and formal markets—but also the company, which will benefit from a steady supply of locally grown crops. The importance of local supply chains has been highlighted over the past years, as the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted global shipping.

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According to the Managing Director and CEO, Nestlé Nigeria Plc, Wassim Elhusseini, “The Developing Inclusive Grain Value Chains project will engage stakeholders across the supply chain to address these challenges. The project will work with six Small and Medium-scale Enterprises (SMEs) that aggregate crops and supply them to Nestlé factories.

“At Nestlé, we are committed to building strong communities and supply chains, improving livelihoods in communities directly connected to our business activities. Therefore, we are delighted to work with IDH and TechnoServe to improve the livelihoods of smallholder farmers and SMEs who work within our supply chain. This project will help 5,000 families apply more sustainable farming practices to improve their household income while protecting the environment for the generations to come.”

The Developing Inclusive Grain Value Chains project is expected to improve the incomes of 5,000 small-scale farmers and increase the sales of the six aggregator SMEs by at least 10 percent.

TechnoServe’s Deputy Country Director and Director of Programmes in Nigeria, Ayokanmi Ayuba, added that “Building more inclusive supply chains is a win-win for farmers and the private sector.