There is ability in disability. 🌾

Last year, we watched members of E.I. People with Disability Farmers Cooperative Society Ltd (EIPWDFCS) try to build an irrigation farm — only to have it vandalized and destroyed. They were forced to leave that land behind.

Today, we walked their five farm locations across Minna, and what we saw left us speechless.

Maize, Soya beans, Rice. Thriving fields, planted and tended by farmers who refused to let discrimination write their story. Farmers who, when they go looking for land to rent, are asked over 3 or 4 times the actual rate — a quiet way of saying “we don’t want you here.” Farmers who’ve been told to their faces that they’re “wasting their family’s time.”

They didn’t stop.

One of their farms sits beside a school for persons with disabilities — and it’s not just a farm. It’s a classroom. EIPWDFCS uses that land to train other persons with disabilities in practical agriculture, turning their own struggle into opportunity for others. CHIYN has supported that same school by covering tuition for about 50 students.

This cooperative isn’t just farming for profit. They’re building a name, a network, and a future for persons with disabilities across Niger State — proving, farm by farm, that their motto isn’t just words: there is ability in disability.

Since our capacity building session with them, this partnership has grown into policy dialogues, strategic meetings, and joint grant applications — and yesterday’s visit reminded us exactly why this work matters.

Their journey hasn’t been walked alone — grateful for the continued support of @AGRA (Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa), @Niger State Agricultural and Mechanization Development Authority, and @ACReSAL (Agro-Climatic Resilience in Semi-Arid Landscapes), whose backing has helped make this progress possible.