Hajarat Tsowa Mohammed,a small scale village rice processor who turned commercial rice miller has praised the Federal Government and International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD)’s Value Chain Development Programme (VCDP) for making her who she is today.
Sharing a touching story of her livelihood transformation journey from a village pauper, in an interview with AgroNigeria, Hajarat Mohammed, who is now Director of Doko Yegborolo Milled Rice in Bida, Niger State, hailed VCDP for training her and empowering her with processing, destoner and weighing scaling machine,among other interventions. This equipment, she expressed, served as a springboard to the financial independence she enjoys today. Hajarat bought a rice colour sorter with her own resources, improving the quality of her rice, which is one of the best brands and can compete with foreign rice. Hajarat receives orders for her rice from all over the country. In order to meet up with the growing demand for her rice brand , Hajarat has ventured into rice production owning rice fields worth over N8million naira.


In her words; “I have been in the rice processing business for over 20 years, with little or nothing to show for it. My life changed when my cooperative was introduced to the IFAD VCDP program in 2016, it was a game-changing encounter for me.
“Now I can boast of a comfortable living, sending my children to one of the best schools in town and I have traveled to Saudi Arabia’s holy city of Mecca for the Hajj, which is a dream come true for me, using my personal resources.
“I appreciate IFAD VCDP for this amazing opportunity, and I encourage other women to venture into agriculture, as it is highly profitable.”
From Waste to Wealth: Rice Straw as High Nutrient Substrate For Growing Mushroom
In Hajarat Mohammed’s case, IFAD VCDP’s support extended to her husband, who uses the waste from rice processing activities from his wife’s factory as substrate to grow mushrooms.


Mr Gana Tsowa Mohammed explained that growing mushrooms requires very different methods than growing rice.
“Mushroom farming is more technical. It starts with preparing the right substrate. One of the things I learnt through VCDP is the importance of maintaining the right environment for growth.
“VCDP taught me how to monitor and control the conditions in the growing room. If the environment is right, the mushrooms grow quickly and healthily,” he explained.
However, he noted that one of his main challenges is the availability of good mushroom seed. “The seed is the most difficult to get. They bring the seeds all the way from Lagos.”
Mohammed hopes to further expand his mushroom farm by learning how to produce his own seed.
“If I can learn how to source for or produce my own seed, it will make things much easier and faster,” he said.
According to him, he markets his mushrooms online and locally, reaching customers far and wide.
“The online market has really helped me expand my business,” he asserted.


On her part, Hajiya Hadizat Isah, State Programme Coordinator VCDP Niger State, said this case is just one of over 27,000 beneficiaries in Niger state.
“The IFAD-VCDP is a six-year program that aims to improve the food security and incomes of poor rural households in Nigeria. The program focuses on the production, processing, and marketing of rice and cassava.
In Niger state, we have been helping farmers increase their income and achieve maximum value added in their production.“We are reducing poverty and improving food security in rural areas while developing agricultural value chains in a sustainable way,” she added.
