Nto challenges Igbo women to use August meeting in boosting food security
The Director of Agribusiness Incubation Centre, Michael Okpara University of Agriculture, Umudike, Dr Philips Nto has challenged Igbo women in the need to use their annual August meeting in boosting food security.
Speaking in an interview with Hanto Daily News on ways of redefining the annual women gathering, Dr Nto noted that this could be achieved by using the opportunity to educate the rural women on the benefits of value chain addition in agriculture and how to enhance food production generally.
According to him, the major agenda of the women’s August meeting should be anchored around ensuring food security and sovereignty, stressing that the greatest challenge facing Nigerians now is food insecurity.
While calling on women to lead the campaign to get rural women back to the farms again, Dr Nto who is a former Commissioner for Finance and Economic Development in Abia state noted that traditionally women were important segment for labour and agricultural value chain.
He further advocated the revitalization of the umuada system as it would effectively serve as a tool for enhancing agricultural productivity.
“The Umuada system is a veritable tool through which women can form cooperative societies and farm labour rotation for which they can boost food production.
“Previously in the South East, of Nigeria, August meeting was an avenue through which women constituted the engine of growth for agriculture, specialising in crops like Cassava, cowpea, three leaf yam, vegetables and maize among others for all round production. I believe we should resuscitate it”, Nto pointed out.
Dr Nto who is also the immediate past Provost of Abia State College of Education, Technical, Arochukwu, called on all tiers of government to support women cooperative societies to ensure they contributed to food security in Nigeria.
To prove his desire to see the suggestions work, Dr Nto assured that the Agribusiness Incubation Centre at MOUAU will always assist the women with expertise in modern means of farming, including the provision of high yielding seedlings.
