Empowerment: Agricultural firm inaugurates Most Beautiful Farmer pageant
By Oluwatope Lawanson
Farm Junction Foundation (FJF), a subsidiary of Farm Junction Ltd. has announced the inauguration of its “Most Beautiful Farmer (MBF)” Lagos pageant.
Dumebi Oluwole, the MBF Project Coordinator, made the announcement at a news conference in Lagos on Friday.
Oluwole said the groundbreaking agricultural empowerment initiative was designed to uplift and showcase Nigeria’s bountiful farming community.
She said that Farm Junction Ltd’s overarching mission was to connect farmers directly to consumers, stabilise prices, and address some of the known key challenges in Nigeria’s food value chain.
She explained that the MBF pageant was the Foundation’s first major project, created to support and celebrate Nigerian female farmers by enhancing their expertise in agricultural practices, communication, marketing and distribution.
According to her, the MBF project aligns with the mission and part of Farm Junction’s Corporate Social Responsibility mandate to empower the farming community.
“We are thrilled to inaugurate this innovative project that highlights the importance of farmers in Nigeria while making agriculture more appealing to the younger generation.
“Through strategic partnerships and collaboration with the Lagos State Ministry of Agriculture, selected participants can enhance their skills during the programme through hands-on training, mentorship and public engagement activities.
“This will ensure that all the skills acquired eventually contribute to the overarching theme of making farming attractive and to achieve subnational and national food security.
“Also, FJF was established to focus on community development and empowerment,” Oluwole said.
In the same vein, Sola Rogers, the MBF Project Executive, said that the programme sought to make farming cool and attractive by combining technical training with an innovative pageantry model.
“This is part of Farm Junction Ltd’s ongoing commitment to improving food security in Nigeria.”
Rogers said that FJF would be providing grand prizes, including a brand new truck and seed funding worth over N5 million to the winner, and farming tools to all the participants.
“This will help to improve their agricultural output and aid distribution to open markets after the programme ends.
“We have also set up effective monitoring practices to ensure this happens,” he said.
Similarly, Mr Yinka Omogoye, the Chief Executive Officer of Demiller Industries and Farm Junction Ltd., said that the initiative aimed at equipping farmers with the tools needed to thrive in today’s agricultural landscape.
Omogoye said that the tools to be provided included technical skills and modern marketing strategies, among others. NAN
