The Federal Government of Nigeria has successfully concluded its Agricultural Empowerment Programme across six South-South states with a grand launch of Project "Earn From The Soil" in Delta State.
The launch in Delta State follows the successful rollout of the project across Cross River, Akwa Ibom, Bayelsa, Rivers, and Edo, culminating in Delta State with this grand occasion. The federal government is now set to fully implement the project to revolutionise agriculture and enhance regional food security by promoting cooperative formation and commodity-based clustering.
Speaking at the launch in Warri, Delta State, the senior special assistant to the president on community engagement, South-South, Hon. Gift Johnbull, explained that the initiative aligns with President Bola Tinubu's Renewed Hope Agenda, focusing on food security, agricultural growth, and economic empowerment for women.
"This significant event marks a critical step forward in our collective effort to economically empower women in Delta State and the wider South-South region,".
"As we embark on this journey together, let us harness our resources, our fertile lands, and our people's ingenuity to build a prosperous, food-secure, and equitable Delta State," Hon. Johnbull said.
Johnbull noted that the federal government's target is to reach over 500,000 smallholder farmers, agribusinesses, and fisherfolk, focusing on empowering women.
The goals of the project, as outlined by Hon. Johnbull, include the promotion of sustainable farming practices that increase agricultural productivity, enhancing value addition to agricultural and aquacultural products, focusing on processing and packaging, developing robust market linkages to ensure women farmers access both local and international markets, fostering cluster projects that promote entrepreneurship in agribusiness and create opportunities along the agricultural value chain.
In his keynote address, the executive assistant to the governor on community development in Delta State, Emakpor Odogu, emphasised the event's timeliness, stating that "when you are hungry, and you have the means to get on, and you have a deliberate course of action, it then means you have hope."
Odogu highlighted the women's economic empowerment policy as a critical component of this federal initiative, describing it as a "deliberate course of action" being put in place to alleviate hunger. He noted that this aligns with the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goal of zero-tolerance hunger. He also expressed gratitude to the federal government for bringing such an initiative to Delta State.
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Launching the WEE Policy and the "Earn From The Soil" project is expected to position Delta State as a leader in agricultural development, setting a benchmark for sustainable economic growth through women's empowerment in the South-South region.
The holistic approach allows the project to tailor its support to farmers' specific needs, with implementing partners offering targeted assistance based on the commodities produced by local farmers.
