Thursday, April 3, 2025, marked a significant milestone in empowering vulnerable women from underserved communities in Lagos State. In a concerted effort to accelerate action for women, Unity Bank, Nigeria’s 8th largest bank by business locations, partnered with the Lagos Food Bank Initiative to provide hands-on backyard farming training and essential food items to help these women restore their livelihoods, enabling them to support themselves and their families.

Adenike Abimbola, the Divisional Head of Retail & SME at Unity Bank, spoke about the bank’s dedication to supporting small businesses, particularly in agriculture. She emphasized Unity Bank’s ongoing efforts to empower farmers and entrepreneurs to scale their businesses and contribute to the nation’s development.

The day’s training session was led by one of the Food Bank’s in-house experts, who guided the women through the essentials of poultry farming. The training also covered additional ventures such as snail farming and vegetable cultivation, offering the women a broad range of opportunities for sustainable livelihoods. The women were fully engaged as they learned how to use various tools and resources needed to care for poultry. One of the highlights was seeing a birdcage full of chickens during the demonstration, which really captured their attention.

The session was not just informative, but also interactive, with the women eagerly asking questions about best practices for egg production, poultry health, and farm maintenance. These conversations helped them gain a deeper understanding of how to make their farming ventures successful.

Following the training, Adenike Abimbola encouraged the women to implement the skills they had learnt with the goal of creating sustainable income sources for their families and overcoming hunger and poverty.

The Executive Director of the Lagos Food Bank Initiative, Michael Sunbola, expressed gratitude to the Unity Bank team for their contributions towards empowering women and uplifting agricultural ventures as a means of tackling food insecurity and poverty in the country. “This initiative is a two-pronged approach,” he said. “Unity Bank has not only equipped these women with the tools to make a living, but has also provided them with food supplies to support their families as they put their training into practice.”

As the day came to a close, the women received food boxes filled with staple items and essential goods. Grateful and joyful, they expressed their thanks through dances and heartfelt words, as the food packages—designed to sustain a family for 2-3 weeks—provided much-needed relief from their food insecurity struggles.