SMEDAN empowers 80 Bauchi women in agribusiness

The Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN) has embarked on a five-day entrepreneurship development training and empowerment of 80 women in agribusiness in Bauchi State.

The Director General of SMEDAN, Mr Olawale Fasanya, stated this in Bauchi on Friday at the closing ceremony of the training.

According to him, the programme was initiated under the Women in Self Employment Programme (WISE-P) of the agency with a particular focus on women who are into farming and agribusiness (agro value chain) production.

Represented by Mr Mahmood Isa, Zonal Coordinator, SMEDAN, North-East, Fasanya said that a lot of women are into farming and many are willing to take up farming or agri-business as a means of livelihood and self-employment.

However, they are limited in progress because they do not have the requisite skills and finance required to carry on successfully and even access markets, hence, the introduction of the programme by SMEDAN.

“The programme is designed to provide entrepreneurship training, vocational training, empowerment with common facilities and delivery of business development service to 80 participants per state across six selected states for phase one.

“Today, the first phase of the programme is commencing simultaneously in six states of Osun, Ebonyi, Katsina, Bauchi, Ekiti and Kwara