By Philip Yatai

Stakeholders working in the agricultural sector on Thursday validated the draft Gender Situation Analysis of Agriculture and Rural Development in Kaduna State.

The validation was facilitated by the Legal Awareness for Nigeria Women (LANW) under the AGRA Gender Consortium, in collaboration with the Kaduna State Ministry of Agriculture.

Mrs Rebecca Sako-John, Member of the Board of Trustee, LANW, said at the opening of the event in Kaduna, that the NGO had in June facilitated the establishment of a Stakeholders’ Consultative Forum.

Sako-John explained that the forum was towards the identification and prioritisation of gaps and issues for the development of a Kaduna State Gender Policy in Agriculture.

She added that LANW also commissioned the conduct of the gender situational analysis of agriculture and rural development to form the basis for the development of the policy.

She said that the meeting was to agree on key recommendations for incorporation during the development of the draft policy.

This, according to her, would increase women inclusion and implementation of the National Gender Agricultural Policy and its domestication in the state.

She explained that LANW, in partnership with Value Seeds Limited and Palm Valley Nigeria Limited, established the Gender Consortium on the Alliance for Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) project.

She said the project was designed to enhance resilience and up scaling of the gender inclusive rural economy for increased productivity, livelihood, and food security.

Sako-John said that the objective was to increase productivity for women smallholder farmers and strengthen young women’s access to output markets at scale in Nigeria and Kaduna state.

She added that the project would also increase the capacity of smallholder farming households and value chain actors to better prepare and adapt to shocks and stresses.

Ms Mercy Dawa, Administration and Finance Officer, Palm Valley Nig. Ltd, said that the organisation had been training women famers on group dynamics and linking them to financial institutions.

Dawa said that the situation analysis would bring to the fore the challenges being faced by women farmers which would be addressed by the proposed policy.

Mr Idoko Samson, Project Lead, Value Seed Ltd., said that the organisation provided seeds, fertiliser, and other inputs to support women to increase agricultural yield and productivity.

On his part, the Commissioner for Agriculture, Mr Garba Hussaini, commended the AGRA Gender Consortium for leading the advocacy for the domestication of the National Gender Agricultural Policy in the state.

Hussaini, who was represented by Dr Abubakar Bayero, General Manager, Kaduna State Agricultural Development Agency, said that the policy would improve women’s participation and productivity in the agricultural sector.

He pointed out that women were being denied access to land and community resources to participate fully in agricultural production in spite of their contribution to economic development in communities.

According to him, empowering women will significantly improve households’ means of livelihood and the nation’s economy.