Nestlé Nigeria has introduced and expanded programmes aimed at improving women’s economic participation across retail, agriculture and enterprise development, alongside measures to promote gender inclusion within its workforce.
According to local media reports, one of the major interventions of Nestle is the Empowering Rural Women in Nigeria initiative, launched in August 2021 with 50 women retailers in Abuja.
The programme provides participating women with business support, training and mentorship to help them strengthen their retail operations and improve their income prospects.
The initiative has expanded beyond its initial location. Nestlé’s 2024 Annual Report recorded 382 beneficiaries, while its 2025 report put the cumulative number at 432.
In August 2026, the company announced the addition of another 50 women in Zaria, bringing the reported total to 482.
The programme targets women who operate small retail businesses within Nestlé’s distribution network.
The participants receive Nestlé products valued at up to three times their existing stock or monthly sales, as well as training in bookkeeping, merchandising, stock management, financial management and customer service. They also receive three months of mentorship.
The support is intended to address some of the practical barriers that limit the growth of small retail businesses, particularly inadequate working capital and gaps in business management skills.
Nestlé’s Commercial Manager, Boladale Odunlami, said women account for approximately 60 per cent of retailers in the company’s retail network.
He said supporting their businesses and improving their skills could strengthen their earning capacity while also contributing to the performance of the retail network.
The company has also reported that more than 80 per cent of women from previous programme cohorts sustained or grew their businesses beyond the initial stock support.
This is a company-reported programme outcome, rather than the result of an independent impact evaluation.
For Nestlé, the initiative is intended to extend beyond the provision of products or short-term assistance. Victoria Uwadoka, the company’s Corporate Communications, Public Affairs and Sustainability Lead, said: “The true measure of this initiative is not the support we provide on the day, but what the women go on to build with it.”
Women’s economic participation is also relevant to agriculture, where they contribute to food production and processing but often face constraints in accessing productive resources, finance, training and markets.
Nestlé’s agricultural value-chain programmes include the Developing the Grains Value Chain in Nigeria initiative, which supports farmers involved in the production of grains used in local food manufacturing.
The company’s 2023 Annual Report recorded 22,115 farmers profiled and trained under the initiative. Women accounted for 32 per cent of the farmers, while men made up 68 per cent. The report also stated that 15,635 farmers accessed finance for agricultural inputs.
The programme reported improvements in crop yields, including increases of 6.25 per cent for maize, five per cent for sorghum and 35.7 per cent for soybean. These results indicate the potential benefits of improving farmers’ access to technical support and inputs, although the published figures do not provide a separate breakdown of yield gains for women farmers.
GIK/APA