Women Empowerment and Entrepreneurship

Palm oil is very famous in Nigeria as a cooking ingredient. It is used to make several local dishes and can also serve as a raw material for the manufacture of several other products, such as margarine, cosmetics, soaps, and lubricants. Due to inadequate mechanized processing methods and the economic situation in rural areas, most of the palm trees and fruits remain unharvested, leaving more than half of the farmers in poverty.

This is because they have been using the traditional manpower method of manual processing: cutting, picking, cooking, oil extraction, etc. More than 40% of the palm fruits, palm oil, and palm kernels are lost through this method, and this makes it difficult for them to make profits. Despite the amount of labor and effort put in place, they still come out short. This has negatively affected the communities, most especially the women, young adults, and children, who rely heavily on the harvest for income, school fees, and food.

This proposed project is to bridge the widening poverty line, alleviate the suffering of the citizens of the community, and create an investment pool that will generate an independent and continuous source of income. It will also create a supplementary employment opportunity, promote entrepreneurship, increase the income of over 350 people, directly or indirectly, and provide employment to 10 youths, including the differently abled members of the community. There are quite a few machines involved in this process. Some of them include:

• Oil press machines
• Extraction machines
• Crushers or palm kernel crushers Nut-separating machines.
• Filtering machines and generators

Through WEEP, the Obi Heart Foundation will be empowering women, especially widows, to determine their future and that of their families and helping them support their families economically and financially.