By Adebisi Adeyemi, Lagos
The Kaduna State Ministry of Agriculture has established a five-member committee to replicate the National Gender Action Plan to enhance greater participation of Women in Agriculture Value Chain.
This is contained in a report of the outcome of the monthly meetings of the State Agriculture Vision Group (AVG) and that of the Core Delivery Team (CDT) convened by an NGO, Synergos Nigeria, in Kaduna.
The report on Wednesday in Kaduna, indicates that meeting of the two groups took place on Oct. 26 and Oct. 27, respectively.
It said that the five-member committee is to be chaired by Mrs Jumai Ambi, State Director Agric Services in the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry Development.
The report said that the NGO had urged the participants to develop a duplicate of the national action plan putting into consideration the peculiarities of challenges faced by women in the state and areas requiring intervention.
It said that participants suggested assigning responsibilities to individuals and organisations involved for maximum results, tracking of activities and detecting causes of failure if experienced.
“A committee of five was formed and charged with the mandate to preview the draft action plan and present a report during the next CDT meeting to hold in four weeks,’’ the report said.
The Mrs Ambi-led committee is expected to mobilise gender experts and stakeholders to generate ideas on how to domesticate the National Gender Action Plan to enable women to key into the Federal Government policy on agriculture to tackle poverty and nutrition challenges among women and children in the state.
The action plan also aims to mobilise women to play key role in the agribusiness in Kaduna, Benue and Kogi states, where the NGO is working through advocacy, sensitisation and capacity building.
The report noted that members of the committee were drawn from State Agriculture Development Agency (KADA), Women in Agriculture, Livestock Directorate and the ministry’s Gender Desk office.
it is reported that the National Gender Action Plan aims to harness women resources for greater participation in economic activities in the country.
Synergos under the State Partnership in Agriculture (SPA) is collaborating with the ministry to implement the federal government diversification policy aims at shifting from subsistence farming to agribusiness involving value-chain along selected crops.
“The Proposed Gender Action Plan of the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development presented to the meeting by Synergos is a frame work aimed at maximising the potentials of as many women farmers as possible.
“The plan was organised into three (3) overarching themes: productivity enhancement (in terms of quality and quantity), private sector investment and institutional re-alignment.
“The action plan was developed in line with existing policy to fast track policy targets, ensure inclusion of all sectors gender outreach, track gender activities and measure results, tackle the challenge of value chain upgrade and women access to credit among others,’’ the report said.
