By Abba – Eku Onyeka FCT
Honourabe Minister of State, Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (FMARD), Mr Mistapha Baba Sbehuri has told Nigerian Farmers that the Ministry and its research institutions are working towards making Nigeria self-sufficient in good quality seed and its availability to farmers as a foundation for attaining food and nutrition security as well as industrialization.
He also added that the Ministry is supporting breeder and foundation seeds production and linking up with the private seed companies to make certified seeds available to farmers.
The Minister said this in his welcome address at the flag -off of inputs distribution to small holder women farmers as part of the mitigation measures against effect of Abuja yesterday.
He said, “This programme is particularly important because it is in line with the present administration’s efforts at addressing the problem of food and nutrition security in the country, which has not only become a major threat to the quality of life, but also affects our daily activities, security of lives and properties. It has been established that if the country wants to exit from its mono economy of crude oil, it has to make a major impact in the agricultural sector, and if well harnessed, will bring about reduction in unemployment, create wealth and food security.
“Prior to Mr President’s Administration, many Nigerians were doubtful of the capacity of the country to feed itself. This notion fuelled the agitation for greater allocation of foreign exchange to finance food imports ranging from rice, dairy, sugar, oil and host of others. With COVID-19, the priority of every country in the world is to ensure limited disruption to its food supply chains. A number of countries has banned or drastically reduced food exports to avoid scarcity of food.
“With dwindling oil revenues and limited opportunity to import food, one would only wonder what Nigeria would have been experiencing today, in terms of food supply, if this Administration had not taken the right policy steps. This gathering is one of our efforts to work hand-in hand with State Governments and other relevant stakeholders to assist in ensuring food security, economic growth and job creation, especially in the face of COVID-19 Pandemic.”
In his keynote address, the Honorable Minister, FMARD, Alhaji Sabo Nano said: “For the last 22 years, there has been decline on extreme poverty globally and then came the COVID-19 pandemic and with it, massive job losses, shrinking of economies and loss of livelihoods. Women, who were socially and financially disadvantaged, were disproportionately affected by the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent economic recession that followed.
“Weakened social protection systems have left many of the poorest in society unprotected, with no safety nets to weather the storm. The recently released report shows that the pandemic will push 96 million people into extreme poverty by the end of 2021 and 47 million of whom are women and girls. Women typically earn less and hold less secure jobs than men. With plummeting economic activity, women are particularly vulnerable to layoffs and loss of livelihoods.”
“The resurgence of extreme poverty as a result of the pandemic has revealed women’s precarious economic security.
“Gender bias is still deeply embedded in our cultures, economies, political and social institutions locally and globally. Women and girls face unacceptable levels of discrimination and abuse, which is not only wrong, but also, prevents them from playing a full part in society and decision-making. However, Women as we know play a special role in the overall development of the country and are the pioneers of nation. Women are the key to sustainable development and quality of life.
“There is no chance for the welfare of the world unless the condition of women is improved. It is not possible for a bird to fly on only one wing.
“I have deliberately undertaken initiatives aimed at promoting gender equality and empowerment of women in line with the targets set in our Economic Sustainability Plan, Agric Gender Policy, National Gender Action Plan (N-GAP) for Agriculture, Agricultural Sector Food Security and Nutrition Strategy Documents aimed at ensuring increased opportunities for women.
“Today, the Ministry is supporting about 10,000 women with value kits (planting materials, growth enhancer and agro-chemicals) in yam, cassava, potatoes, soybean, rice, maize, sesame, ginger, sorghum/millet, cowpea and horticultural crops. In addition nutritional value kits will be distributed to the women today. The choice of the crops is based on comparative advantage to its production. Again, because women are disadvantaged in land inheritance in Nigeria, the use of sacks and vertical farming are being popularized and the techniques will be demonstrated. The Ministry, besides the distribution of inputs to the women, is also distributing production and processing equipment in an effort to reduce drudgery, improve efficiency, reduce cost of production and improve quality of product and produce from the operations. This will also assist them in building production assets that they would ordinarily not be able to afford.”
Enjoining the beneficiaries to judiciously use the inputs, materials and equipment to produce quality food for the nation, he called on other stakeholders to support farmers so as to defeat hunger/poverty in the country and become self-sufficient in food and raw material production, as well as mitigate some of the negative effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.