No fewer than 5,000 smallholder farmers will now earn better livelihood by supplying high quality maize, soybeans, millet, and sorghum to Nestlé, through the Developing Inclusive Grain Value Chains project.
The Developing Inclusive Grain Value Chains project is expected to improve the incomes of 5,000 smallholder farmers and increase the sales of the six aggregator SMEs by at least 10 per cent.
The initiative, launched on Monday,  is initiated by Nestlé in collaboration with  IDH, the Sustainable Trade Initiate and Technoserve,’’ a statement by Nestle Nigeria says.
The seven-month project will enable more inclusive and transparent sourcing of maize, soybeans, millet, and sorghum for Nestlé’s operations in Nigeria.
According to it, 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 year, as the Covid-19 pandemic disrupted global shipping.
Over the last few years, Nestlé has worked with smallholder farmers and aggregators in Kaduna State, to improve crop quality, significantly reducing rejection rates from over 30 per cent to four per cent.
“The project will work with six small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) that aggregate crops and supply them to Nestlé factories.
“The initiative will build the capacity of businesses all along the grain value chain: aggregators and sub-aggregators will receive training on proper grain handling, storage, and testing, as well as entrepreneurial and financial skills.
“Logistics partners will receive training on proper handling and storage of grain during transit.
“The initiative will also work with extension agents from the aggre-gators to provide agro-nomy training to farmers, with a focus on good agricultural practices and post-harvest handling,’’ it said.
Nestlé Nigeria Managing Director and CEO, Wassim Elhusseini, said of the project: “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 prac-tices to improve their household income while protecting the environment for the generations to come.
Country Director, IDH Nigeria, Cyril Ugwu, said: “We are excited at this opportunity of working with TechnoServe and Nestlé in our joint mission to contribute to the improvement of agribusiness entrepreneurship in Nigeria.
“The partnership is crucial as it not only contributes to improved local sourcing of commodities by a reputable brand as Nestlé, it also contributes to food security and the economic wellbeing of a teeming number of farmers in the region,’’ he said.