Over 1,500 families across Agbowo, Apete, Moniya and Ring Road, Ibadan, now have a fresh chance at food security after receiving full start-up kits from the Waste Museum following their training in Sustainable Organic Backyard Gardening.
The free programme—run in partnership with the UNDP Global Environment Facility (GEF)—combined intensive lectures, hands-on practicals and fieldwork.
Each participant received nine seed packs, 10 kilograms of manure, seed trays and wetting cans to help them begin organic food production right at home.
For many beneficiaries, the gesture offers hope in a period of rising food prices.
Founder and Creative Director of the Waste Museum, Mrs. Jumoke Olowookere, encouraged participants to plant their seeds not only for healthy meals but also as an income source.
“We have empowered them with the needed farm inputs to grow their own food and medicine without chemicals. We want them to succeed and support their communities,” she said.
Olowookere added that the organisation would monitor the farmers’ activities and reconvene them in three months for evaluation.
She appealed to government at all levels to support and scale the initiative nationwide, noting that backyard gardening requires minimal space and can make use of waste materials such as cans, tyres and containers.
Olowookere also announced November 14, 2025, as the date set for distributing start-up kits to trainees who missed the first phase.
Dr. Grace Oluwatoye, Founder of Life Builder and GEF Co-Grantee, commended the orderly distribution despite the large turnout.
She urged beneficiaries to share seeds with neighbours to strengthen community food security.
“With more people practicing Sustainable Organic Backyard Gardening, we reduce carbon emissions and support the goals of the GEF Small Grants Programme,” she said.
Excited beneficiaries—including Mr. Oyedele Oyewole, Mrs. Saidat Adetunji and Mrs. Ruth Adewale—expressed readiness to apply the climate-smart techniques to grow food for both family use and income.
They described the kits as timely support that could transform their households and neighbourhoods.
Reporting by Sherifdeen Nashirdeen