Olam Agri and the Sustainable Collective Advocacy for Africa Development Initiative have expanded their Community Resilience Opportunities for Women and Youth Project to Kwara State, following reported gains recorded among beneficiaries in Nasarawa and Benue states.
The programme is designed to equip women and young people, particularly those in vulnerable farming communities, with practical skills, business knowledge and livelihood opportunities to enable them to earn income and become economically independent.
The Kwara phase will also support women and youth farmers during off-farm seasons, when household incomes and employment opportunities often decline.
The initiative’s expansion follows the completion of its first phase in Nasarawa and Benue, where 100 vulnerable women and youths were trained between December 2025 and March 2026 in six trades — soap making, hairdressing, shoemaking, carpentry, tailoring and welding.
The beneficiaries received certified practical training, starter kits specific to their trades, as well as instruction in business management, financial literacy and savings. The organisers said the programme had already produced early signs of economic impact.
In Benue, some shoemaking beneficiaries reportedly progressed from apprentices to independent producers within weeks, selling handmade shoes for between ₦20,000 and ₦27,000 per pair. In Nasarawa, a soap-making beneficiary expanded into producing laundry soap, while a welding graduate secured a contract to manufacture doors for a private company shortly after completing the training.
All 100 beneficiaries completed the first phase, with an independent evaluation being prepared to assess its longer-term impact. Olam Agri Nigeria Country Head, Anil Nair, was quoted in a statement on Tuesday as saying that the initial results demonstrated the value of targeted support for vulnerable women and young people.
“The success and impact of this project shows that through targeted support and partnership, women and youth are able to develop foundational skills that enable them to earn a living, gain economic independence and improve their livelihoods,” Nair said.
He said Olam Agri and SCAAD were building on the success recorded in the first phase to reach more beneficiaries in Kwara. The CROWY SOY Project will provide beneficiaries with support in strategic leadership, entrepreneurship and inclusive economic participation, while also raising awareness of gender equality and helping participants identify early warning signs and appropriate responses to gender-based violence.
SCAAD Initiative Executive Director, Frances Okeke, said the programme was intended to address the economic difficulties confronting women and young people, particularly in farming communities. “Nigeria’s overlapping crises have made survival even harder, especially in farming communities where off-season periods often deepen economic vulnerability,” Okeke said.
She said the programme would provide practical skills and livelihood opportunities to grassroots women and youths while helping them develop the capacity to lead and support their communities. “When women and young people are given the tools to succeed, entire communities become more resilient and rise with them,” she said.
The organisers said the Kwara intervention would also focus on expanding access to cooperative financing and strengthening emerging women- and youth-led enterprises.
The initiative is expected to promote self-employment, widen economic opportunities and strengthen livelihoods in targeted communities, particularly those affected by economic and social vulnerabilities.
Olam Agri and SCAAD said the expansion was part of their broader effort to build sustainable and resilient livelihoods for women and youth in vulnerable communities.