The Platform for African Women in Smart Climate Agriculture has restated its commitment to placing Nigerian women at the centre of food security, export expansion, and poverty reduction, as it scales its operations across the continent.
Speaking at a thanksgiving programme held to mark the organisation’s growth in Nigeria, PAWISCA’s country leadership described the gathering as both spiritual and strategic, reflecting the group’s focus on impact-driven development rather than symbolism.
The organisation disclosed that it now operates in 45 African countries, with Nigeria’s operational model adopted as a reference point for other member states. This structure, built around strong state and local government coordination, has enabled widespread participation, particularly among women engaged in agriculture, processing, trade, and creative industries.
Over the past three years, several Nigerian states have developed export-ready products through PAWISCA’s collaboration with the Nigerian Export Promotion Council. The council has identified the organisation as one of the few institutions with a truly national footprint, actively involved in hands-on training, exhibitions, and value addition across multiple sectors.
PAWISCA currently operates in all 36 states, supported by female local government coordinators and a growing number of male members. While it remains a women-led initiative, its focus extends beyond farming to include fashion, food processing, and cultural industries with export potential.
Members are converting traditional products into income-generating exports targeted at global markets. In the fashion space, locally woven fabrics are being redesigned into contemporary outfits for international buyers. In agriculture and food processing, innovations include powdered egusi, black soup concentrates, plant-based creams, and instant local meals. These products are processed, packaged, and registered with regulatory authorities, making them suitable for both domestic consumption and export.
According to the organisation, these value-added products are already generating foreign exchange and offering a direct pathway out of poverty for small producers. Lagos State accounts for several approved products, while about eight other states are currently assessed as export-ready, with more expected to join as training and compliance improve.
PAWISCA also revealed plans to roll out a structured financing framework backed by a commercial bank, with funding strictly linked to verifiable production, training, and export activity. Beneficiaries will be required to demonstrate what they produce and where their products are sold, ensuring that financing supports real economic output rather than untested ideas. Projects such as cassava-to-ethanol and soybean processing have already received approvals from laboratories and academic institutions, signaling readiness for scale.
Structured training for farmers and exporters is scheduled to begin in January, with a detailed timetable already released. The programme is designed to help participants improve production standards, processing, packaging, and market access, particularly for international trade.
With a membership base of over 5,000 nationwide, PAWISCA continues to expand through state and local coordinators, encouraging Nigerians, especially women, to turn skills, farms, and ideas into sustainable MSME-led businesses.
At the event, the Lagos State coordination team emphasized the organization’s disciplined approach, cautioning against expectations of quick financial rewards without meeting the defined standards. PAWISCA, they said, is focused on supporting practical, verifiable projects rather than paper proposals.
The organisation prioritises initiatives that can be tested, refined and scaled for export, enabling farmers and producers to earn more from what they already do. Farmers are encouraged to show what they grow and how it can be processed and packaged for higher value, while also exploring by-products such as cassava derivatives. Support also extends to fashion and cultural industries, including adire and other African textiles.
Looking ahead, PAWISCA expressed optimism about Nigeria’s economic prospects in 2026, noting that funds are likely to be released from January to qualified farmers and other beneficiaries who meet the organisation’s production and export criteria.
