Markets Project

Rural women Foundation works to provide innovative techniques in agriculture . This is one of the ways that RWF achieves its mission statement of, ‘Improving the lives of women and children in local communities through education, economic empowerment and social amenities in collaboration with other affinity groups that raises their standards of living.’. The organization works to contribute to reducing poverty, hunger and ultimately contributing to the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) of halving extreme poverty and hunger by 2015.  Hence RWF contribute towards achieving this through its programs on innovative techniques in Agriculture (Women and Agriculture Program -WAAP and WABP).

RWF's attendance at the conference in Athens, Greece in 2001 enhanced RWF’s resolve to support women to improve production and add value to their products. RWF trained and advocated linking women farmers to direct market access in order to reduce the exploitation through the intervention of middlemen.

RWF collaborated with the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) under its Rural Sector Enhancement Project (RUSEP) to implement programs for the rural poor in Nigeria. RWF also collaborated with IITA/RUSEP project and the Abia State ADP in the transfer of improved cassava and plantain varieties to Women farmers in Ukwa West LGA. These Women farmers had earlier been mobilized (Asa North women cooperative Society) by the Foundation and basic production skills had been imparted to them through group training since 1999. However, with the introduction of improved cassava and plantain hybrids, there became a need to add value to the anticipated increased output from these high yielding commodities to enable the women take advantage of market opportunities especially in the Aba and Port Harcourt urban markets located less than 40 Km from the project area.

Between 2005 and 2009, the Rural Women Foundation also assisted the Cassava Enterprise Development Project also of the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture to set up a successful packaged cassava fufu factory for rural women in the Niger Delta Region of Nigeria. Both the Rural Sector Enhancement Programs and the Cassava Enterprise Development Project were funded by the USAID in Nigeria.