By Samuel
The Federal Government has pledged its support for the Nigeria Agriculture Gender Network (NAGN), launched on Monday in Abuja.
The network was established in partnership with the International Fund for Agriculture Development (IFAD) Value Chain Development Programme (VCDP) and other donor programmes.
It seeks to enhance knowledge sharing, promote experience and information exchange among donor-funded agriculture and rural development programmes in Nigeria in respect to women, youth and other vulnerable groups.
The inaugural meeting of the NAGN, also held on Monday in Abuja, was themed: Sharing Good Practices and Lessons for Integrating Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment in Agriculture.
Speaking during the meeting, the Director, Project Coordinating Unit (PCU) of the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (FMARD), Dr Bright Wategire, assured of the unit’s commitment to the goals of the project.
“The PCU is available to support the network and ensure its aims and objectives are achieved and sustained as a catalyst for gender-transformative strategies and partnerships needed to ensure that gender transformation is achieved in the agricultural sector,” Wategire said.
The Director also noted that the Ministry in its effort to promote gender equity in agriculture launched the National Gender Policy in Agriculture in 2019.
According to him, the policy document provides direction for the different roles of women and men in agriculture for development and gender equality in terms of access to resources.
He explained, “As part of efforts to promote and ensure the adoption of gender-sensitive and responsive approaches towards engendering plans and programmes in such a way that men and women have equal access and control of productive resources and facilities to bridge gender gaps, a National Gender Policy in Agriculture was launched in 2019 by the Honourable Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Mr Muhammad Sabo Nanono.
“The document provides a policy direction for the different roles of women and men in agriculture for development, and gender equality in access to resources as well as equal opportunities in maximising means of livelihood and also necessary conditions for progressively realising the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
“The National Gender Policy in Agriculture is expected to drastically reduce the vulnerability of women to biases in agriculture, address the unequal gender power relation and bridge gender gap.”
Wategire hailed the meeting as a unique platform aimed at contributing to efforts towards attaining the goals and development agenda of the present administration on gender equality and transformation.
The Director, who also harped on the role of his office under FMARD, noted that PCU was established with a mandate to ensure effective implementation of donor-funded projects under the Ministry.