By:  Zakariya Musa

Participants and Facilitators

EYN Church of the Brethren in Nigeria’s Agricultural Department embarked on a Soya Beans Chain Training Workshop. The three day workshop was planned to train 32 people from different communities, reported Rev. James T. Mamza, Director of Integrated Community Based Development Program (ICBDP) The workshop trained trainers who will go back to their farming communities to stepdown the knowledge to others. Although the workshop was designed for 32 people only 18  were able to attend; about 50% of the participants were women.

Three Facilitators: Mr. Kefas John, Mr. Daniel Y. Zafi and Mrs. Salamatu J. S. Billi were engaged to teach on soya beans as a crop, Soya beans production, use of inoculant in legumes, field measurement, and marketing soya beans. Other topics discussed include the use of agrochemicals and their side effects. Such teaching is coming to the farming communities who now embracing the use of agrochemicals to reduce farming cost.

This is an area that produces different crops such as Maize, Groundnuts, Beans, and Millet.  I asked  Rev. Mamza why they were emphasizing soya beans?  He replied, “Soya beans is referred to as a Golden crop because it has so many benefits:  it is easy to farm,  it improves soil nutrients in terms of nitrogen and fixation of soil, it destroy pests and suppresses weeds, and it has about 46% protein content to improve nutrition in the human body.”

One of the workshop participants from Chibok, Sister Gladys Mallum, commented that the training was an interesting one. Her concern is people’s acceptance to grab what she called “privilege to maximize farm produce and profit”. By embracing soya beans, she learned that people can fight poverty in their communities.

This is the first of a series of workshops sponsored by CoB and EYN; they will continue in other zones.