Digital social enterprise, HerVest, said it has provided financial intervention to about 25,000 women in the Agricultural sector in Nigeria. The CEO and co-founder of the platform, Solape Akinpelu, made this disclosure in an interview with Channels TV.
Akinpelu said the intervention is aimed at ramping up the financial inclusion and access of smallholder women farmers in Nigeria. She explained that many women in agriculture are held back by a lack of capital, farming best practices, and a competitive market.
The techpreneur noted that the African Development Bank Group (AFDB) report on the $42 billion-dollar economic gender gap in Africa shows that women, particularly female farmers, need timely access to funding.
She said the company, which currently operates mainly in the northern part of the country, would like to expand to Southern Nigeria but is held back by funding.
‘’We are constantly on the lookout for partners that would help scale up the underwhelm that is affecting agriculture as a whole because when you have 70% of your labour population under one because they lack access to and inclusion, it affects everybody, so it’s imperative that we work with strategic partners that can help us scale funding access and resources required for Nigeria’s largest contributions to our GDP,’’ Akinpelu stated.
The CEO advised policymakers to implement policies ensuring that Africa is food sufficient.