As part of efforts to boost food security in the country, a Non-Governmental Organization,NGO, Country Women Association of Nigeria,COWAN, today gave N2million loans to 100 rural community women in Ondo State. The credit loans is to assist the beneficiaries who are all traders to boost their businesses and also help in fighting food scarcity in the country.
Speaking at a One-Day workshop organised in Akure, the State Capital, for the rural community women, the National Coordinator of COWAN, Mrs. Bisi Ogunleye expressed the importance of rural women leadership in food security. She lamented over the poor preservation of food, which she said was the major cause of food scarcity in the society.
The COWAN leader also faulted the government for not doing its best towards finding a lasting solution to the issue of food scarcity. According to her, “our women have been neglected, government are not paying attention to the fact that our mothers have a great culture and knowledge on how to preserve food. It is something sad and an abomination that whenever you get into the market, you can find our own type of tomatoes except those ones from the north.
This is due to the fact that nobody is producing them again. We now rely on the northerners before we can cook. Now, it has become difficult for salary earners to buy food stuff, because they are all imported into our region and this country. When a salary earner can not buy food, how will a non-salary earner eat?
“This workshop is to assist our rural women to showcase the leadership skills they have possessed in nation building and food security in particular. It is also to help them to display their traditional food. We will also expose them to modern technologies on food security and integrate traditional and modern food security”
Also speaking at the event, Ita-Ogbolu traditional ruler, Oba Idowu Faborode, urged government to stop giving money to those he called absentee farmers.
He noted that those set of people have been living fat on the money meant for the farmers, while the nation’s agricultural sector had remained stagnant due to their actions and inaction.
Credits: Abiodun Badejo
Source: DailyPost
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