AugustSecrets Limited, in partnership with the Challenge Fund for Youth Employment (CFYE) has launched the MushWealth Project to create employment opportunities for 2000 women and youth within the mushroom value chain in Nigeria.

The Chief Executive Officer of AugustSecrets Ltd, Oluwatoyin Onigbanjo stated that the goal of the project is to advocate for more investment in child nutrition and women empowerment as a path to improved economic growth.

Onigbanjo stated this at the training programme organised for women and youth mushroom farmers under the MushWealth Project.

The MushWealth Project is an entrepreneurship-led job creation project funded by the Netherlands Government under the CFYE by Palladium.

“As a nutrition-focused food company, we manufacture healthy packaged cereals for young children and families.

“In our search for more sustainable high protein sources, we realised the power and market gap with mushrooms.

“Mushrooms are rich in proteins, amino acids and potassium that are great micronutrients for brain and body development,” she said.

Onigbanjo said the goal of the project is to set up 2000 new and existing mushroom farmers with technical, digital, and business skills to grow and process mushrooms as a business, and supply AugustSecrets for new products as well as other organisations and markets.

She disclosed that within two years, 2000 youths (80% women) will pass through the training programme with at least 1600 starting and growing their mushroom businesses.

According to a new report by Grand View Research, Inc, the global mushroom market size was valued at 50.3 billion dollars in 2021 and is expected to expand at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 9.7 per cent from 2022 to 2030.

The global demand for mushrooms has witnessed significant growth in recent years, driven by an increasing population demanding protein-rich, vegan and specialised diets.

The report stated that Nigeria however needs to build its capacity in order to meet local and global demands, with a current deficit of about 1000 tonnes annually.

Onigbanjo mentioned that the poor awareness of the opportunities with mushrooms, inadequate technical guidance, limited post-harvest processing options, lack of trained research and extension personnel, poor market organisation and market linkages were some of the challenges faced with the sector.

“These goals are well in line with the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals 2,3,4 & 5, 8 respectively,” Onigbanjo said.

She further added that personal experiences could drive women into entrepreneurship as it did to her, highlighting how her son’s picky eating habits inspired her to start AugustSecrets, manufacturing Jadens Natural Cereals after her said son’s name.