With nearly 110,000 hectares of farmland completely destroyed by flooding since August the country fueling the fear of food shortage, a financial technology firm, Tingo Mobile Plc said it is stepping in to address food insecurity in Nigeria by supporting small scale farmers.
Tingo had earlier signed a deal in Abuja with the All Farmers Association of Nigeria (AFAN), to aggregate over 20 million of farmers in the association.
Speaking while signing a memorandum of agreement (MoA) with the association, President of Tingo, Chris Cleverly said the development will see Tingo provide inputs to farmers, especially fertilizer, tractors, chemicals, seeds, sprinklers, loans and smart phones devices.
He said the move is aimed at addressing growing challenges of food insecurity in Nigeria, adding that there was a need to support rural farmers with initiatives that would boost their output.
According to him, the development will also address unemployment and enable small scale farmers to contribute meaningful to economic growth.
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Tingo incorporation is a leading agri-fintech company, which has for decades transformed rural farming communities by providing connectivity and access to Tingo’s extensive and unique platform.
President of AFAN, Dr Farouk Rabiu Mudi noted that the involvement of private organisations in addressing the challenges faced by farmers remained sacrosanct.
He disclosed that the new deal would offer opportunities to farmers across all local government areas in the country to improve their yield.
Mudi who stated that the MoA with Tingo is a welcome development, especially at a time when the farmers are counting losses from flooding.
Speaking on the occasion, the Chief Executive Officer of Tingo Mobile, Auwalu Tahir, said: “At Tingo, we are passionate about solutions that will end food insecurity, hunger, malnutrition, poverty, unemployment, rural under development, foreign exchange challenges amongst others.
“What you are seeing today is part of the commitment we had made to adopt the United Nations Sustainable Development (Goals).”
Tahir said the inadequacy of tractor, funding, fertilizer and market connectivity have further worsened the threat to food security in Nigeria, stressing that the MoA would address the issues.
