- Wins Advocacy Change Champion Award
BY EDMOND ODOK, ABUJA – The Wife of Ondo State Governor, Mrs Arabinrin Betty Anyanwu-Akeredolu says the marginalization of women that constitute about 75 percent of the agriculture workforce is a great disservice to Nigeria’s efforts at economic diversification.
According to her, the significant inequalities between women and men in many societies have made it difficult for the country to progress on the path of sustainable growth and development.
Speaking at the inauguration of Agric Gender-friendly Policy Development Technical Working Group where she was honoured as the ‘Cluster Advocacy Change Champion’, Mrs Anyanwu-Akeredolu said government at all levels must urgently address these inherent inequalities for the overall good of Nigeria.
She highlighted some of the challenges faced by women farmers to include consistent drop in the agric sector budgetary allocation over the last 7 years; non-capture of support for smallholder farmers as a line item in the Ministry of agriculture budget; and lack of state gender friendly policies among others.
Praising her husband’s administration for identifying agriculture among its major cardinal programme for job creation and economic prosperity, Mrs Anyanwu-Akeredolu noted that the government has initiated strategic programmes such as Agriculture Transformation Agenda (ATA) and Development and Policy Implementation Committee report.
The Governor’s wife, who said the development supports the objectives of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) towards poverty eradication, expressed happiness that the Agro-Women Initiative present the first time ever that a line item in the agriculture budget is dedicated to support small holder farmers by the state government.
Mrs Akeredolu while pledging to promote the initiative for a successful outcome, commended USAID/PIND and LAPDO for supporting the development of agriculture in Ondo state as part of measures aimed at closing the existing gender gap.
In her goodwill message, Mrs Bose Eitokpa, the Capacity Building Manager of Partnership Initiative in the Niger Delta (PIND) Foundation, said the inaugurated cluster partners is the first of its kind in Ondo State.
She said the initiative is to encourage gender inclusive agriculture and solicit inputs that will create a legacy of sustainable peace and development among communities in the Niger Delta.
For a Consultant, Kazeem Balogun, who researched on supportive environment for women farmers in Ondo State, among the findings are issues of policy and budgetary allocation.
He said in terms of policies, only 35 per cent of women farmers benefited from one of the numerous empowerment of government while about 82 per cent of women farmers acknowledged benefiting from NGO support programmes as government policies did not make room for people with disability.
Balogun stated that the lack of no clear cut policy on agricultural financing was quite disturbing, and therefore advocated a new agricultural policy that accommodates current trends as well as deliberate investment on capacity building for farmers.
Also speaking at the event, Special Assistant to the Governor on Agriculture, Pastor Akin Olotu while lauding the Akeredolu-led administration for promoting several initiatives in the agricultural sector, said over 2,000 farmers will benefit from this project aim at poverty alleviation in the state.
Another speaker at the occasion, Head, PMRO, NIRSA, Akure, Akinyele Aluko stated that the evolving system and initiative will help alleviate poverty in Ondo State by giving women a huge facelift as revenue earners for their family.
In his comments, Chairman, House Committee on Agriculture, Hon. Towase Kuti described the programme as a viable initiative at a critical time in Ondo State’s history and applauded the government’s efforts at encouraging farming among the people.
The Cluster Start-Up Workshop was put together by the United State Agency for International Development (USAID), Partnership Initiative in the Niger Delta (PIND) Foundation and Life and Peace Development Organization (LAPDO) to enhance inclusive Agricultural Governance through Smallholder Women Farmers Participation in Agricultural Sector in Ondo State.
