Women Solidarity Initiative for Development

*I am applying for the Elevate prize because I believe I have all it takes to win it; I am applying because all I have done for WOSID over the years is through-self-help and there are a lot more we would have done, given the resources; we would love to elevate our women with the elevate prize.

*Humanity is my passion: To whom much is given, much is expected – for this reason, if am selected the win is not for me but for WOSID; the win is to help us beak new grounds.We intend getting our women engaged more in mechanized farming and establishing processing facilities to add value to their produce, by getting more machinery and production line; With this sustainable program, the foundation can achieve more. These women through the foundation can give to the health system in their communities, create basis social amenities like water, power supply and good road; we want to expose them to the outside world through international workshops and exchange visits; the list is endless; the ideas are in exhaustible.

*I, Marian Olusola Nishile,is the founder of WOSID. I am an ambassador for peace, a business woman and philanthropist.  Before WOSID, I have a solely funded foundation for children, The Dorcas Alake foundation (DAF), named after my late mother. Through this foundation, a number of children have been assisted to live meaningful lives. 

My concern for women and a need to support them in becoming financially independent, informed the birth of WOSID.  Looking at the rate at which women beg for survival, I feel it would be a good idea to set up WOSID. I then invited a few like minds to join me in giving life to the idea. The good thing is, our member-farmers comprise both the literate and illiterate, so it is not an entirely elitist convergence.

My vision is a Nigeria where every woman has a voice; where a woman’s gender will not hinder her progress.WOSID is an organisation of like minds; women who are passionate about the growth of women in all ramifications; it is a body born out of love for women and their families.The goal is to keep on keeping on; after agriculture, we want to look into value chain and food security.

Gender disparity has remained a global issue; Nigeria is not an exception. Successive governments have continued to pay lip service to addressing gender dichotomy and this has invariable affected a women in many spheres be it education, finance, health and even governance.

As a result of this, it has been discovered that women because they don’t have a say, most of the times, are not economically independent.  In reality, majority of them have remained hewers of wood and fetchers of water, as it were.  They still look up to their male counterparts sometimes their husbands, for approval and support.

According to statistics, women perform 66% of the world’s work, produce 50% of the food, but earn only 10% of the income while owning 1-2% of the property.

Furthermore, because they make up 70% of the 15 billion people living on less than a dollar per day, women and girls suffer a lot from the burden of extreme poverty.

Our focus is women in Agriculture in Nigeria.  We observed that women’s physical labour was crucial to driving the agricultural sector.  The proportion of women in agricultural production, and post-harvest activities range from 20 – 70% and their involvement is increasing not only in Nigeria but globally.

However, we observe that women farmers are increasingly, finding it hard to survive due to deteriorating health and work condition.

Added to these, are lack of access to funds and growing insecurity which have left many at the mercy of bandits who kill, maim and rape them with reckless abandon.

 * WOSID:   The Women Solidarity Initiatives for Development, (WOSID) is a body of women for women, established in the year, 2018. WOSID is committed to the economic emancipation of rural women farmers.  It believes that with the right support, women farmers will have not just higher yields but will also be economically independent. 

WOSID is represented in all six (6) geo-political zones of the country, specifically in 14 states and the Federal Capital Abuja. In the North central, North East and North West, our women are engaged in groundnut, Maize, beans, rice, soya Beans and yam farming, among others.

In the Southwest, we have our women planting cassava and rice, sweet potatoes and so on, while in the Southeast and South- South, WOSID members, are engaged in both Agriculture and Aquaculture, depending on the terrain.

WOSID is having an impact in the economic independence of our women farmers, in many ways.  For instance in Abuja, we drew some of our members from the Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camp.  These are women who have been left with little or no care.  WOSID engaged them, gave them a new lease of life and gave their families hope.  Aside from returning them to their love which is farming, we also clothe and feed them at the initial state.  However, today, they have steady income from the proceeds of their farming and they can now conveniently meet their own needs without having to wait on government.

The reason we are doing this is simple – Their economic independence and wellbeing is of paramount importance to the founders of WOSID.