The Federal Government on Tuesday, reiterated its commitment to achieve food and nutritional security and creating job opportunities for the unemployed population.
The Director, Federal Department of Agriculture, Ministry of Agriculture, Mr Abudullahi Abubakar, said this at a two-day training on packaging and processing for women and youth in Abuja.
Abubakar was represented by the Deputy Director, Irrigation Agriculture and Crop Development Division, Federal Department of Agriculture, Mrs Sugra Mahmood.
He said that participants in the ‘training of trainers’ were drawn from various clusters comprising 60 per cent women and 40 per cent youth, including people with special needs.
“This is in line with the affirmative action on gender inclusion and Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) which the Ministry is faithfully promoting.
“The Federal Government of Nigeria is committed to supporting the agricultural sector, in order to realise its potential of driving an inclusive economic growth, achieving food and nutritional security and creating job opportunities for the unemployed population,” he said.
He said that the training in processing and packaging technologies would further strengthen farmers’ capacity to package foods with efficient utilisation of raw material and other resources.
I will like to call on all stakeholders in the crop sub-sector, especially, sub national governments, and private sector, as well as researchers and NGOs to complement Government’s effort in supporting farmers with the necessary training and equipment.
“This will cushion the ravaging impacts of the shocks from the pandemic, the Russian/Ukraine conflict, and the recent floods and security challenges in many parts of the country which call for strategic shift in our food processing and packaging practices,” he said.
In her remarks, Mahmood said the skills acquired would enable the participants to process and package their products in line with global best practices.
“It is our hope that Nigeria will drive the initiative in the West African region by encouraging our women and youth towards the adoption of improved processing and packaging techniques across the agricultural commodity value chain,” she said.
She said that the participants were selected from women and youth farmer’s cooperative groups to equip them with necessary skills and knowledge.
Mahmood was represented by the Chief Technical Officer, Federal Department of Agriculture, Mr Suleiman Aliyu.