GENDER ACTION PLAN (NGAP) FOR AGRICULTURE. |
The Federal Government has
launched the National Gender Action Plan (NGAP) for Agriculture in order to build
the capacities of Nigeria’s women.
The Minister of Agriculture
and Rural Development,Chief Audu Ogbeh made the remark at the launching of the
document put together by the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development
and Synergos, in Abuja today.
The Minister said that the
objectives of the National Gender Action plan is to build the capacities of
women farmers to transit from subsistence farming to medium/large scale
farming; saying that women are good managers, and their commitment to the
well-being of the family and the society cannot be over emphasized,
Hon. Minister started
further that women remain the anchor of our nations’ agriculture as they
contribute immeasurably to the development of the sector as evidenced in
various statistics which show women constitute 70% of the small scale farmers
that actually feed the nation.
The Minister however
acknowledged some challenges facing women in agricultural sector to include
poor access to finance and farm input such as fertilizers, improved seeds, farm
machineries, agro-chemicals, access to land, market access and in some cases
insecurity amongst others.
The wife of Mr President,
Dr. (Mrs) Aisha Muhammadu ,Buhari was represented by the Special Assistant to the
first lady Dr. HajoSani, disclosed that educating a Girl -Child is paramount for
sustainable development of the society,and
that when you educate a Girl-Child, you have empowered the child to be able to
stand on her own.
She also believed that
launching of the National Gender Action Plan will go a long way to uplift women
from subsistence agriculture to modern agriculture
The Permanent Secretary of
the Ministry Dr. Abudulkadir Muazu who was represented by Director in the
Ministry, Dr. Watergire Bright,during his keynote address disclosed that Nigeria agriculture and food industry are still
unable to meet the demand of population of over 170 million both in quantitative
and qualitative terms; assuring that Nigeria is working to reduce its food
support bill of over $11 million i.e almost N1.2 Trillion per year, so that
local producers can take advantage of the opportunities in order to create
wealth and generate jobs for the country.
Director of Extension
service in the Federal Ministry of Agriculture Mrs. Karima.Babaginda stated
that the National Gender Plan on Agriculture (NGAP), is a framework for
positive action which aims at ensuring that current sector policies actually
yield tangible results each year, adding that it also aims to outlining rural
concrete programmes and actions required for maximizing the potentials of many
farmers including women practitioners in agriculture
Okeh Juliet
For: Director Information
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