103 Women Gain Hairdressing Skills to Build New Livelihoods in Bauchi North
IMPACT
For many women in rural communities, earning a reliable income can depend on having a practical skill that can be turned into a small business. Yet access to training, business knowledge, and the basic tools needed to get started can often be a barrier.
To help women create additional sources of income and strengthen their household livelihoods, the Foundation for Sustainable Smallholder Solutions (FSSS), through the ESTRRA Project, trained 103 women in hairdressing and entrepreneurship across five Local Government Areas in Northern Bauchi.
The training, which held about a month ago, was supported by the HEINEKEN Africa Foundation (HAF) and Nigerian Breweries PLC, brought together women from Katagum, Gamawa, Giade, Itas-Gadau and Jama’are LGAs.
The activity is part of ESTRRA’s broader effort to promote livelihood diversification, women’s economic empowerment, and sustainable income-generating opportunities alongside its agricultural interventions. The six-day activity was structured to give participants more than basic hairdressing skills. The women were divided into three groups and received two days of intensive practical training.
Participants learnt how to use salon tools, maintain personal and salon hygiene, wash and dry hair, relax and retouch hair, stretch and pack hair, apply gel, braid hair and create different hairstyles. But the training also recognised that knowing how to style hair is only one part of running a successful business.
Participants were therefore introduced to customer care, salon ethics, record keeping, pricing, branding and marketing, identifying target customers, business registration and financial literacy. They also learnt about budgeting, opening business accounts and understanding periods when demand for salon services is likely to increase.
The combination of technical and business skills is intended to help participants move from simply acquiring a skill to thinking about how that skill can become a sustainable source of income.
At the end of the training, each participant received a start-up kit containing towels, combs, a spray bottle, scissors, hair cream, hair gel and hair relaxer. The kits are designed to help the women begin practising immediately while providing some of the basic materials needed to start or expand their businesses.
For women who may not have had the resources to purchase these items themselves, the support provides an opportunity to put their newly acquired skills into practice and begin building a customer base within their communities. The intervention also creates room for participants to provide services closer to home, potentially reducing the need for women in rural communities to travel to larger towns for basic hairdressing services.
While agriculture remains central to livelihoods across Bauchi North, ESTRRA’s livelihood diversification approach recognises that rural households often need more than one source of income to manage economic and climate-related pressures. Skills such as hairdressing can provide an alternative or complementary income stream, particularly for women who may have limited access to formal employment.
By combining practical vocational skills with business training and start-up support, the project is helping participants explore opportunities that can continue generating income alongside farming and other household activities.
For FSSS, the goal goes beyond a six-day training programme. The broader ambition is to see women use the skills, knowledge and tools they have received to establish viable businesses, contribute to household incomes and create services and opportunities within their communities.
Supported by the HEINEKEN Africa Foundation and Nigerian Breweries PLC, ESTRRA is working across seven LGAs in Bauchi North to help smallholder farmers and their communities build more resilient livelihoods.
The 103 women trained in hairdressing are now equipped with a practical skill, business knowledge and basic tools. What comes next is turning that opportunity into businesses that can grow, support families and contribute to stronger local economies.
