Selection Nigeria

August Secrets ltd.

AugustSecrets Ltd is an award-winning baby and toddler food solutions company with the goal of helping Nigerian mothers to feed their children healthy and nutritious food. The company is run by a young mother named Toyin, who’s child Jaden was a meticulous eater and often refused to eat. The only food Jaden would eat was a homemade cereal made from local crops. Toyin quickly realized that other mothers were facing the same problem as her, and that was the beginning of AugustSecrets Ltd. Now ‘Jaden’s cereal’ is a familiar sight in grocery stores and helps parents solve their children’s nutrition worries, while improving the livelihoods of small-holder farmers who supply all the local ingredients AugustSecrets Ltd uses. 

The Problem

Having enough to eat does not mean the same as being properly nourished. Hidden hunger and malnutrition are still prevailing issues in Nigeria. Whether because of a lack of education or of access to diverse range of produce, many children are not getting enough nutrients.  

Moreover, based on the results form a collaboration with Nigerian Ministry of Youth Development and AugustSecrets ltd, both young men and women report strong aspirations for entrepreneurship. They see it as a path to economic independence and a way to contribute to their communities. However, there is a lack of practical training that would equip youth with relevant knowledge and expertise. Young people are also increasingly interested in sustainable clean agriculture rather than traditional one. They are drawn to farm in new innovative ways and value crops that can be cultivated all year round.  

Finally, young women in Nigeria face additional challenges in finding decent employment. Gender norms and social expectations limit women from both applying and getting hired. Even when women are accepted into youth employment programs, they are more likely to drop out than men. Therefore, there is a need for more gender-focused policies and practices promoting inclusivity, so that not only will women apply and be hired more, but they will also stay in these positions.

The Solution

To tackle these challenges, AugustSecrets ltd will launch the MushWealth Project. The MushWealth Project is an innovative solution designed to increase youth employment and Economic Growth. The Project aims to create 1,615 new jobs for young people consisting of 15 full-time, waged employment, and 1, 600 self-employment jobs, with women comprising 60% of the beneficiaries, by providing practical training in mushroom farming and incorporating their produce into an ongoing product line, Jaden’s Protein Cereal Mix, which is a nutritious and healthy product line designed to provide a straightforward way for parents to feed their children. The project matches youth aspirations as mushroom farming has a minimum impact on the environment and can be cultivated throughout the year.  

To successfully attract and retain young women and youth, the project will conduct targeted social media awareness campaigns aimed mostly at young women, highlighting the opportunities and benefits of mushroom farming. These campaigns will emphasize the inclusive and non-discriminatory nature of the project, thus encouraging young women to participate. The MushWealth Project will institute gender-focused policies and practices to promote inclusivity and give more women opportunity to be enrolled in the project, so that even if some of them drop out the project willstill achieve gender parity at completion.

Together with CFYE, the MushWealth Project is on a mission to transform the lives of young people in Nigeria through mushroom farming, and to foster a future where economic growth, youth employment, and environmental sustainability coexist. 

Additionality

The CFYE grant and technical support will enable the project to be implemented at the proposed scale and time for the benefit of young people, especially young women in rural and peri-urban communities. CFYE grant and technical assistance offer significant value addition to the project, and their absence would impact the project’s strategy and approach in several ways: 

  1. The absence of CFYE grant funding would create financial constraints, making it challenging to expand and sustain the project. This will result in a limited number of beneficiaries and insufficient resources for equipment and training.
  2. Without CFYE technical assistance, the project may lack professionals who can guide the project in areas such as fit-for-purpose business modelling, supply chain optimization, market research, and investment readiness.
  3. The absence of capacity-building services could result in skills gaps among project staff and entrepreneurs, affecting the quality of mushroom cultivation and business operations.
     

In sum, the absence of CFYE grant and technical assistance would impact the project’s ability to achieve its objectives, reduce its reach, and hinder its long-term viability. These forms of support are essential in ensuring that the project effectively empowers young entrepreneurs in mushroom farming and contributes to their economic and social development.

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