PRESS RELAESE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT LAUNCHES THE NATIONAL GENDER ACTION PLAN (NGAP) FOR AGRICULTURE.

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