Get Guardian on GoogleThe Consumer Advocacy and Empowerment Foundation (CADEF) has trained 125 Nigerians in small-space food production through its Green Living Initiative (GLI), aimed at helping households supplement their food supplies amid rising food costs.
The community-based project equipped participants with practical skills to grow food using readily available and reusable materials, including sacks, containers, discarded buckets and other underutilised spaces around the home.
The initiative, supported through the Green Action Fund, funded by the Swedish Society for Nature Conservation (SSNC), and coordinated by Consumers International, was implemented under the 2026 Green Action Week theme, “Sharing Community.”
It promoted sustainable consumption and production by encouraging individuals and households to adopt simple gardening techniques, even without access to farmland.
The project comes amid concerns over food affordability in Nigeria. According to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), food inflation stood at 19.59 per cent year-on-year in September 2026, indicating that food prices remained significantly higher than a year earlier, despite a decline in the monthly rate of price increases.
Under its train-the-trainer approach, CADEF initially trained 25 participants, who were subsequently equipped to train at least three other people in their communities. Some participants extended the training to more people, bringing the initiative’s total reach to 125.
At the project’s closing ceremony in Lagos, participants and Green Living Ambassadors displayed their produce and demonstrated techniques such as sack and container gardening, window-box farming and the use of empty oil kegs and discarded paint buckets.
Crops cultivated included okra, cucumber, sweet potato, tomato and groundnut.
Speaking at the ceremony, CADEF’s Executive Director, Prof. Chiso Ndukwe-Okafor, said the initiative was designed to provide households with practical knowledge they could apply using available spaces and resources.
She acknowledged that small-space gardening could not independently address food inflation but said it could provide families with an additional means of supplementing their food supplies.
“Food prices affect what families can afford to put on their tables. We recognise that small-space gardening cannot, on its own, solve the problem of food inflation, but it can give households another option,” she said.
Ndukwe-Okafor said the train-the-trainer model was central to extending the project’s impact, as participants were encouraged to share their knowledge with others.
She cited the experience of a young man who had reportedly turned sack farming into a source of food and income for his family.
According to her, the young man cultivated yam in about 100 sacks within his compound, sold part of his harvest and used the proceeds to pay his children’s school fees.
She urged participants to sustain the initiative beyond the formal programme by continuing to grow food and sharing their knowledge with others.
Also speaking, the Deputy Director of Agriculture at the Lagos State Ministry of Agriculture and Food Systems, Ms Olufunke Obafemi, commended CADEF for its consumer education and advocacy efforts.
Obafemi stressed the importance of sustainable agricultural practices, reducing food loss and waste, and encouraging responsible consumption in strengthening food systems and protecting livelihoods.
She reaffirmed the ministry’s commitment to supporting initiatives that connect environmental sustainability with agricultural development, food security and public well-being.
A participant, Chibueze Nwachukwu, said the training had given him the confidence to cul…
