Similar to smallholder farmers who are reliant on manual labor, internally displaced farmers also need access to mechanization to increase their productivity levels. However, internally displaced persons (IDPs) face significant challenges in accessing income-generating technologies and services. In an effort to better understand the unique challenges that IDPs face in accessing mechanization, we conducted a demonstration for IDPs in Yola, Adamawa State, Nigeria from April 8-12, 2019 with the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and Propcom Mai-karfi.
With support from the Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation ACP-EU (CTA), Hello Tractor will host tractor demonstrations across Nigeria, as well as Kenya, to help farmers better understand Hello Tractor and the benefits of mechanization. These demonstrations help to engender trust amongst farming communities, as well as help us to better understand farmer needs and pre-schedule service.
In total, 52 registered internally displaced farmers both from the Yolde Pate and Fufore communities of Yola state participated in the demonstration. The farmers were educated about the benefits of mechanization and learned about the opportunities to earn income as a Hello Tractor booking agent.
Over the next couple of weeks, Hello Tractor staff will be returning to Yola to provide follow up trainings to those who were initially trained to become tractor operators and booking agents. To keep to the end goal of this project which is really to improve livelihood and enable income among IDP communities, we intend to provide all necessary support to these smallholder farmers to ensure they are not only successful this planting season and beyond.
