The Federal Government is set to boost food security in the South-South region through a new initiative to address the prevailing food and nutrition insecurity challenges facing the country, particularly in the region.
It also recalled that the federal government has successfully concluded its Agricultural Empowerment Program 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 Senior Special Assistant to the President on Community Engagement, South-South, Hon. Gift Johnbull, in a statement, explained that the initiative aligns with President Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda, focusing on food security, agricultural growth, and economic empowerment for women.
She noted that the Federal Government is now set to proceed with the full implementation of the project, which aims to revolutionise agriculture and enhance food security in the region by promoting cooperative formation and commodity-based clustering.
Johnbull said: “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.”
She noted that the Federal Government’s target is to reach over 500,000 smallholder farmers, agribusinesses, and fisherfolk, with a particular focus on empowering women.
The goals of the project, as outlined by Hon. Johnbull, include: 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; and fostering cluster projects that promote entrepreneurship in agribusiness and create opportunities along the agricultural value chain.
In his address, the Executive Assistant to the Governor on Community Development in Delta State, Emakpor Odogu, emphasised the timeliness of the event, stating that “When you are hungry and you have a means to get on, and you have a deliberate course of action, it then means you have hope.”
Odogu highlighted women’s economic empowerment policy as a key 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 for hunger and expressed gratitude to the federal government for bringing such an initiative to Delta State.
The launch of 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 the specific needs of farmers, with implementing partners offering targeted assistance based on the commodities produced by local farmers.