BAT Nigeria Foundation 2021

Our agricultural initiatives are aimed at empowering smallholder farmers to improve their productivity and their build their capacity to establish viable agricultural enterprises.

In aligning with the priorities of the Federal Government of Nigeria to promote sustainable agriculture, the British American Tobacco Nigeria Foundation has 5 thematic areas: Enterprise development, Capacity building, Youth Empowerment, Grants and Humanitarian Aid.

ENTERPRISE DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME

The Enterprise Development Programme (EDP) creates economic opportunities for rural farmers across the value chain. It is a model that provides support to agri-preneurs to establish, build and expand their businesses in a viable and sustainable way. The EDP promotes both - Crop and aquaculture farming.

Components of the enterprise development programme :

• Capacity Building – farmers are trained on good agricultural practices to ensure maximum yield on the field. The capacity building is conducted for both participating and non- participating farmers who are engaged in the same crop or aquaculture enterprise in the project locality.
• Financial support/Input supply – for crop enterprise development programme, the Foundation will support the beneficiaries with the required agricultural inputs needed to cultivate one hectare of land for the mandate crop being supported.
• Market and Off-taker Linkage – This component will entail creating access to the market and or off- takers at the beginning of the farming season. The project will ensure participating farmers have contracts for the off taking of their produce even from the start.
• Access to Finance - This entails providing support for accessing additional financing from financial institutions for crop production or aquaculture
• Fabrication/donation of equipment/machines – This entails the acquisition of basic equipment and machineries for participants to allow them to adopt best practices and encourage value addition.
• Women empowerment – women are often side-lined in farming. This project will empower women with the resources they need to start and build successful businesses in agriculture.

FUNDAMENTALS OF CROP MANAGEMENT

Many smallholder farmers operate under very poor conditions, are uneducated and lack access to basic infrastructure and information needed to boost their yield as poor yield leads to poor profits. To increase their farm yields, it is important to equip farmers with the technical capacity to respond to the changing agricultural environment, to bring them up to speed with current technologies, climate change adaptation and good agricultural practices.

The programme strategy of the Foundation is to use model farms of 0.5 hectares as demonstration plots for capacity building and evidence for improved yields to farmers when good agricultural practices are adopted. Building the capacity of farmers is key to efficient food production as well as rural development and acknowledges the need to train farmers so that they can reach their potential capacity for farming and increase their income. Farmers trained will also be taught how to manage and access financial support from finance institutions.

YOUTH EMPOWERMENT AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP PROGRAMME

The long-term development of the agricultural sector in Nigeria is hinged on the preparedness of succeeding generations - the youth - to take over from the current aging population of farmers in the country. The preparedness of the youth; regardless of gender, entails having the required knowledge for a productive and sustainable farming as well as the passion that is required to participate in the agricultural sector as key players. Yet, few young people see a future for themselves in agriculture.

Today, the youth face many hurdles in trying to earn a living. Pressure on arable land is high, limited access to finance, market, infrastructure and technology, make it difficult to start a farm; but even if such hurdles can be overcome, isn’t urban life much more appealing? This is the dilemma many youths find themselves.

About 70% of agricultural produce are cultivated in rural communities by (ageing) smallholder farmers, older farmers are less likely to adopt the new technologies needed to sustainably increase agricultural productivity, and ultimately, feed the growing population while protecting the environment. Hence, the youth need to be re-engaged to go into agriculture .

The youth empowerment programme is a series of projects set up to encourage youth participation in agriculture. The programme entails the following:

1. Scholarship/Grant : to encourage the study and practice of agriculture, grants will be provided to the best students in Agriculture at the higher institution level and to out of school farmers below the age of 35years.
2. Capacity building : Young farmers will be trained on crop management, improved technologies, value addition and access to finance.
3. Mentorship : Young farmers will be paired with experienced farmers to learn the agricultural business, improve their knowledge and gain experience in the field.
4. Social media campaign #Wealthishere : This is an online campaign to raise awareness about the entrepreneurial opportunities in agriculture. It is a campaign that will project successful agri-preneurs as models to the youth. We anticipate that the #Wealthishere campaign will be an inspiration to young people.

GRANTS & GOVERNMENT INTERVENTIONS

BATN Foundation is a grant giving organisation.

The Foundation offers grants to reputable organisations who can deliver results in the outlined thematic areas above. Organizations will be selected through a rigorous screening process that starts with a private or public solicitation for proposals.

Solicitation for proposals will be extended to Government partners at the Federal, State and local government levels. This solicitation will be specific to any support for ongoing interventions or new development plans laid out by the benefiting state, ministry or parastatal.

HUMANITARIAN AID

From the Boko Haram crisis to herdsmen’s conflict, from floods to erosion, Nigeria, in recent years, has experienced shades of natural disasters and manmade crisis that have affected livelihoods and displaced families. In crisis, there is always the immediate need for basic necessities like food and in times of recovery/resilience, an economic package that can restore financial independence.

The humanitarian aid programme entails the immediate short-term assistance to those in crisis. This may include support to victims of natural disasters, armed conflicts, deportees/refugees or famine in the country.

Building on previous humanitarian interventions, the Foundation will actively be involved in supporting the Government of Nigeria during any humanitarian crisis. The support would be limited to its mandate area of agriculture and agribusiness development, but exceptions may apply.