By Esther Onyegbula

In commemoration of this year’s International Women’s Day, Naija Feminists Media, NFM, in collaboration with Development for Underserved Communities, DUC Foundation, has supported petty traders in Kubwa, Abuja, with 7,000 packaging materials to strengthen their small businesses and ease operational costs.

The initiative, themed “Give to Gain,” is aimed at empowering grassroots women entrepreneurs who depend on small-scale trading for their livelihood.
International Women’s Day, celebrated annually on March 8, recognises the achievements of women while also drawing attention to the need for greater gender equality and opportunities.

Under the outreach programme, ten petty traders in the Kubwa community received seven packs of packaging nylons each, amounting to 700 pieces per trader and a total of 7,000 distributed materials.
The traders, comprising both young and elderly women, sell various local food items and beverages including plantain, akara, bananas and kunu drinks. Organisers noted that the support would indirectly benefit about 7,000 customers and community members who patronise the traders.
Founder of Naija Feminists Media, Ms. Simbiat Bakare, said the initiative forms part of the organisation’s broader goal of promoting economic empowerment for women, particularly those operating at the grassroots.

According to her, rising costs of packaging materials have continued to affect small-scale traders who often provide nylons to customers at no extra charge despite their limited profit margins.
“Large business owners increasingly charge for nylons, especially supermarkets. Yet these small business owners, whose profit margins are small, still have to give nylons to customers for free,” she said.

“By supporting these women’s businesses at the grassroots level, the initiative reflects the core message of this year’s IWD theme, which is giving others to increase their gain.”
She added that the distributed materials would help reduce the traders’ operating costs and enable them retain more profit from their daily sales.

Some of the beneficiaries expressed excitement over the gesture, with several of them dancing in appreciation while others immediately began using the packaging materials for their sales.