Kaltume Hassan is a mother of seven and a small entrepreneur in the rice processing industry of Bauchi, Nigeria. Kaltume has talent and ambition but had trouble navigating barriers like access to credit and purchasing land, in addition to having to fulfill her household and childcare responsibilities.
Kaltume participated in the Gender Actions and Learning Systems (GALS) training held in Bauchi by Nigeria WAY’s partner, Child is Gold Foundation. There, she learned strategies such as visioning, happy family tree, challenge action tree, and a leadership empowerment map. With more confidence the training, Kaltume was able to pass the knowledge and tools she learned onto her children. She began to save money from her business activities and even started another business of selling Shea butter and shoes. With money from her savings and her husband’s support, Kaltume also bought a plot of land – overcoming a difficult gender barrier in her community. Kaltume has a strong desire to continue her education and to start exporting her products beyond her community.
As a GALS champion, Kaltume has trained 13 people in her community with the skills she learned from the training. She sees many opportunities to leverage and grow, including her participation in the savings and loan group.
Women often play an important role in the informal agri-food markets but because of gender barriers, they are unable to enter the formal job market. Nigeria WAY’s project is designed to ensure that women and youth can save and receive the proper training that they need to build successful businesses and farms. This year’s UNFSS summit will address the future of our world’s food systems, especially women and youth and people who are most affected by food insecurity. Stay in the loop to find out how this summit will impact the future of food systems and food security.
