Wife of the Ondo State Governor, Mrs. Betty Anyanwu-Akeredolu, has called on women in the state to rise up and develop interest in agriculture in order to bridge the gender inequality that exists in the sector.
She made this call in Akure at the weekend during a stakeholders meeting on the agricultural sector, held in Akure. She observed that despite the fact that women invested more time in the farm compared to men, they received the least gain.
She said, “This is totally unacceptable and we must make conscientious effort to ensure that women in agriculture gain what corresponds to the effort they put in farming. Supporting women in agriculture is not only enough, we must also ensure the survival of our children. No one debates the fact that mothers are the primary care givers in the
home.
“When a woman in agricultural sector is supported, she will, in addition to being economically empowered, raise well-nourished children. As we all know, malnourished children will be retarded in growth, unable to learn and also be at risk of many health challenges.”
Ayanwu-Akeredolu further called on the government to empower women in agriculture, saying the female gender had, for many decades, been relegated to the back seat in the sector.
Earlier in his address, the Vice Chancellor, Adekunle Ajasin University, Prof. Igbekele Ajibefun, stressed that the university was working assiduously to stop the bane of agriculture in the area of aging farmers by encouraging young people to be actively involved in agricultural processes.
Ajibefun, who was represented by Prof. Adebayo Aromolaran, acknowledged the roles played by women, saying that when more women were exposed to their rights and technology, they would be in a position to access land for agricultural use.
While lauding Mrs Akeredolu for taking up the initiative to organise the meeting, which he said was very crucial, he noted that about 80 per cent of food produced in Africa were produced by
women.
One of the participants who went to Morocco with Mrs Akeredolu to deliver a lecture on poultry farming, Mrs Ibidun Ogunleye, charged women to start from the little they could muster, instead of waiting for government’s assistance, which might not even come, using herself as an
example
Ogunleye also advised parents to encourage the youths to go into agriculture instead of riding motorcycles for commercial purpose, which she said would help to reduce accidents.
She further appealed to the government to help in fixing the bad roads across the country so that farmers would be able to transport their produce to the markets without problem.
