The Women Farmers Advancement Network (WOFAN) has engaged key stakeholders on the selection criteria and implementation modalities for the SIBLING Project ahead of its take-off.
The interactive session, brought together representatives of the Centre for Dryland Agriculture (CDA), the Faculty of Agriculture, Bayero University Kano (BUK), the Bayero University Staff Wives Association (BUSWA), and students of the Faculty of Agriculture.
The SIBLING Project is an initiative of the Chairperson of WOFAN, Dr. Salamatu Garba, aimed at empowering 300 beneficiaries annually, drawn from agriculture students and staff wives.
The programme focuses on hands-on training in agribusiness, value addition, processing, and agricultural production to promote entrepreneurship and sustainable livelihoods.
Under the initiative, the Centre for Dryland Agriculture has provided a two-hectare demonstration farm, while the Faculty of Agriculture has allocated 25 hectares of land for large-scale production and training activities.
The project is structured to give participants practical exposure across agricultural value chains.
The meeting was facilitated by WOFAN’s Finance Manager, Abdulrasheed Abdulazeez. Stakeholders agreed that the Nigerian Association of Agricultural Students (NAAS), led by its President, Ahmad Bashir, would oversee the selection of 150 students from 400 and 500 levels based on clearly defined criteria. Similarly, BUSWA will select 150 women, with priority given to less-privileged staff wives.
It was also agreed that the SIBLING Project would be officially launched before the commencement of the Ramadan period.
Providing background to the initiative, the immediate past Dean of the Faculty of Agriculture, Bayero University Kano, Professor Muhammad Auwal Hussain, outlined the objectives of the project and reaffirmed the Faculty’s commitment to its success, including the provision of farmland in addition to the demonstration plot supplied by the CDA.
Speaking on behalf of BUSWA, Halima Sadiya Mohammed commended WOFAN for initiating the programme and expressed the association’s readiness to collaborate fully to ensure its successful implementation.
Other WOFAN officials present at the meeting included Engineer Sadiq Hassan, Monitoring and Evaluation Officer, and Abdullahi Usman, Assistant Data and Communication Officer.
Also in attendance were Professor Murtala Mohammed Badamasi, Deputy Director (Training) of the Centre for Dryland Agriculture; Professor Abdulhamid U. Yusuf, former Dean of the Faculty of Agriculture; Malam Ashraf of the CDA; and the Centre’s Communication Officer, Nura Garba.