Call For Application: BATN Foundation Empowers Smallholder Farmers with Smoking Kilns

Call For Application: BATN Foundation Empowers Smallholder Farmers with Smoking Kilns

BATN Foundation: The smallholder farmers in Lagos State have benefited greatly from the work of the British American Tobacco Nigeria Foundation (BATN Foundation) and the Lagos State Agricultural Development Authority (LSADA). LSADA and the BATN Foundation have partnered to provide 20 fifty-kilogram smoking kilns to farmers and agribusinesses who qualify.

To maximize the initiative’s impact, LSADA led intense, multi-week capacity-building sessions. Over 200 trainees benefited from the establishment of four demonstration sites for practical training in Lagos State’s agricultural zones: Agege, Ojo, Ikorodu, and Ibeju-Lekki. The goal of the program is to boost farmers’ output and provide them with the tools they need to meet the difficulties that the aquaculture sector faces.

Participating in the smoking kiln handover ceremony were cooperative societies from throughout the state, government representatives, and fish farmers’ groups from the LSADA office in Oko-Oba Agege. A beneficiary named Elizabeth Tagbenu described how the training gave her fresh insights and opportunities to improve her productivity. She underlined how the donation of the smoking kiln will benefit her company and increase overall output.

Under the Fingerlings to Fork Project, the BATN Foundation and LSADA partnered in 2018 to enhance fish farmers’ capabilities. As part of its mission to stop post-harvest loss and promote the socioeconomic advancement of smallholder farmers in Lagos State, the Foundation has donated smoking kilns.

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The BATN Foundation’s general manager, Mr. Oludare Odusanya, emphasized the organization’s long-standing dedication to helping farmers. In addition to providing farmers with the best agricultural methods, he underlined the significance of guaranteeing market access and enabling them to raise the value of their produce. The goal of this all-encompassing strategy is to increase resistance to price volatility.

In her keynote message, Ms. Ruth Abisola Olusanya, the Commissioner of Agriculture for Lagos State, represented by Mrs. Aramide Gansallo, Director of Agribusiness at Lagos State Ministry of Agriculture, encouraged recipients to maximize the potential for effective fish processing. She pointed out that the project supports food security and sufficiency by being in line with the agricultural policy of the Lagos State government.

Mr. Abdullateef Adekunle, one of the recipients, thanked the BATN Foundation and said that the support for the smoking kiln will improve his business and create new expansion opportunities. He stressed how the equipment helps process and preserve fish more effectively, which opens up new markets and boosts his family’s revenue.

Since its founding in 2002, the BATN Foundation has actively supported initiatives for agricultural development. With an investment of over 2 billion Naira, the Foundation has reached over 1.3 million people. Through enhanced assistance to smallholder farmers in every state and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja, it seeks to quadruple this amount in the ensuing ten years.