Nigeria’s First Lady, Oluremi Tinubu, has launched an initiative to empower women farmers in Oyo State, providing training, cash support, and farm equipment to enhance food sustainability. The Women Agricultural Support Programme in Oyo State is a collaboration between the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security and the Renewed Hope Initiative (RHI), the First Lady’s empowerment programme.
According to Mrs. Tamunominini Makinde, wife of Oyo State Governor and RHI Coordinator, “We can achieve this with dedication. Here in Oyo State, we recognise the critical role women play in Agricultural production from subsistence farming to large-scale production. Women are not just farmers, they are food providers, business owners and drivers of national development.”
The initiative aims to empower women in agriculture, enhancing food security and fostering economic goals. Mrs. Makinde emphasised the importance of agriculture in Nigeria’s economic diversification, stating that the government is taking concrete steps to support the sector.
The programme will encourage more women to join farming and improve those already in farming, according to Mrs. Kakulu Omonele, Oyo state coordinator of the Federal Ministry of Agriculture. Beneficiaries praised Mrs. Tinubu’s efforts to uplift women across the nation and promised to use the empowerment judiciously.
This initiative is part of a broader effort to empower women farmers across Nigeria. Recently, the First Lady empowered 240 women farmers in the south-west and north-central zones with N120 million.
