Yara gives Christmas gift to African women in agriculture

Successful female farmers lead to more sustainable development. An estimated 80 percent of farmers in Africa are smallholders and most of them are women.

Women are the backbone of agriculture in Africa. The prosperity of their families and countries depends on their success. That’s why investing in women in agriculture is key for the development of Africa’s growing population.

As Stakeholder Relations and Business Development Manager, Øystein Botillen, points out: “What often happens is that these women make decisions and investments for the best of the household. They make an investment in the house, in the farming itself, they send their kids to school”.

Better profitability through Yara’s “One step forward” program

Our goal is empowering women in agriculture in Africa through Yara’s One Step forward program, providing both free training and fertilizer sample bags of half a kilogram of YaraMila Cereal. On the bag there are instructions on how plant their own demo plot to test the product. This allows the women to see how the fertilizer can increase their maize yields so they can feed their family and have something left to sell on the market.

The “One step forward” program is designed to increase productivity and profitability for smallholder farmers in Africa. By providing the right tools in form of knowledge and fertilizers during a number of training sessions throughout Africa, Yara is helping increase productivity and profitability among smallholder farmers.

The “One step forward” training sessions throughout 2017 expect to reach an estimated 6,000 women in Tanzania, Ghana, Cameroon, Cote D’Ivoire, Malawi and Mozambique.

Empowering women in agriculture – a meaningful Christmas gift

By increasing the amount of fertilizer sample bags handed out at training sessions, Yara creates long term positive impact on African agriculture and acts on its mission: Responsibly feed the world and protect the planet.