The Ministries of Agriculture, Finance, Communications Technology and Women Affairs have signed a Memorandum of Understanding for the provision of mobile phones to one million women farmers in 2013.
The Minister of Agriculture, Dr. Akinwumi Adesina, said this at a gender and agriculture dialogue organised by the World Bank in Abuja on Thursday.
At the dialogue, the World Bank Country Director for Nigeria, Ms. Marie-Francoise Marie-Nelly, also said the bank would invest $1m in the nation’s agricultural sector in ways that would benefit women farmers in the next three to five years.
Adesina, who was represented at the event by the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Agriculture, Mrs. Ibukun Odusete, said women farmers lacked access to finance and technology and were, therefore, hampered in their productivity.
He outlined several efforts being made by the Federal Government to address the inequality of the womenfolk in agriculture, including the provision of mobile phones and access to finance.
The minister said, “As you know, the government has ended the corruption in fertiliser distribution. We took government out of procurement. Before, only 11 per cent of farmers had access to fertiliser. The private sector now sells fertiliser directly to farmers.
“Women don’t have access to mobile phones. We are working hard to address this inequity. In 2013, the ministry will endeavour to reach at least one million women farmers to ensure that they have access to mobile phones.”