The second capacity-building training for the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development staff was held on May 3^rd – 5^th May 2021 at ARMTI, Abuja.  The training organised by Sahel Consulting was attended by 41 participants selected from FMARD departments, five of which were from the state offices in Borno, Ondo, Rivers, Abia, Sokoto, and the rest from the Abuja office.

The objectives for the training were for the participants to:

• • Understand and appreciate the advances in Nigeria’s most critical agribusiness value chains.
  • Map the actors within and along the value chain and identify their pain points, challenges, and opportunities, which require policy interventions. Participants should be able to replicate this process in other value chains and make informed recommendations for interventions going forward.
  • Understand best practices in other countries that can be adapted to the Nigerian context with a wider perspective on best practices, lessons learnt from other regions via the training and practical examples is key to exposing opportunities to participants.
  • Develop clear strategic responses for strengthening Nigeria’s priority value chains.

Participants were given an overview of some priority value chains: Cereals & Grains, Roots & Tubers, Fruits and Vegetables, Fisheries and Dairy. Each value chain was analyzed through the lens of the gaps, the challenges, and opportunities that exist within the value chain. In addition, participants also discussed the gender gaps and constraints that exist in the priority value chains and came up with recommendations for inclusion strategies some of which center around closing the gender gap in extension worker services and recruitment.

Participants reported that this training has exposed them to new ways of thinking and innovative ideas especially in the areas of gender awareness and the disparity in FMARD, ideas on Urban Agriculture and Soilless farming, seeing agriculture as a commercially viable business and not a second option, Identifying one’s influence within the workplace and how to implement recommendations accordingly.