|
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
Group photograph of participants at the event
By our correspondent
The Young Men Christian Association (YMCA) in collaboration with Oxfam Nigeria has trained 40 small holder Women farmers from different groups on advocacy and influencing skills in Nasarawa State to boost food production.
Mr Ango Adamu, Executive Secretary, YMCA Mada Hills, disclosed this at a two – day capacity building workshop on advocacy and influencing skills for 40 “Ogbonge” Women Farmers and Stakeholders in Lafia.
According to him, the training is a continuation of Together Against Poverty (TAP II) project to increase visibility of small holder women farmers in Nasarawa state in recognition of their contributions to foods security.
“We have decided to organise this two days capacity building training for Ogbonge women farmers and other stakeholders to increase their knowledge on advocacy on behalf of other women.
“There are issues around farming, climate change, in most cases they don’t know how to engage duty bearers, so we have given them knowledge, tips on how they can get their messages organised and articulated.
“We brought Ogbonge women from Plateau and Nasarawa states include Small Scale Women Farmers Organisation of Nigeria and Association of Small Scale Agro – Producers in Nigeria,” he said.
Adamu called on them to step down the knowledge acquired from the training to other women and assured them of support and guide when going for advocacy visit.
Ms Peggi Maimaji, Coordinator, Together Against Poverty (TAP) Project for Oxfam said, Oxfam was currently implementing the second phase of the project in Nasarawa and Bauchi states as well as national level in Nigeria.
She said the training aimed at building the capacity of small holder women farmers to effectively interact and communicate their needs as relate to issues affecting them directly to government and authorities.
“Women are marginalised and usually at disadvantage in our society, we are trying to build their capacities and give them as much push and standing as possible to bridge the inequality gap in our society,’ she said.
Dr Edward Anzaku, lecturer with the Federal University of Lafia and a facilitator, in his presentation, said women in most cases due to patriarchal ideology being operated in the society relegated to second class citizens.
He said, though, issues concerning women had taken centre stage and many negative attitudes against them gradually gone down, however, noted that more needed to be done if women would be liberated proper.
Stakeholders from state ministries of environment and Natural Resources, Women Affairs and Social Development and Nigerian Association of Women Journalists, Nasarawa state chapter were in attendance.
