International Institute of Tropical Agriculture has collaborated with Kwara State Polytechnic to train women in agriculture.
This gesture is coming under Women in Agricultural Technical Education and Apprenticeship (WATEA) project. This initiative focuses on empowering women in agricultural technical education and providing them with apprenticeship opportunities.
Speaking at the flag-off of the project at Muhammed Alabi Lawal Hall, Kwara State Polytechnic, Ilorin, the South West Liaison Officer who also doubles as Monitoring and Evaluation Officer for the WATEA project, Mr. Emmanuel Onasanya said the idea is to enhance women’s skills and knowledge and promote gender equality agricultural sector.
Onasanya said during a baseline survey they conducted, the chance of women getting opportunities in agricultural related enterprises is low, as the majority of SMEs owners are men which makes it necessary to train and equip women to increase their participation in agricultural decision-making. He said WATEA is a two-year project funded by the French Government and the choices of Colleges of Agriculture and polytechnics are their major targets as a training center to achieve their aims and objectives.
He noted that the uniqueness of the project is that, they have formed an alliance with private sectors to know which areas they need women to occupy so as to inject that into the lives of their trainees for them to practice it and go according to the model of the project even right from school.
He said apart from training them, they are also going to inculcate the component of apprenticeship, which will come after the training on campus and introduce the beneficiaries into industries to learn the practical way in the business world.
He revealed that WATEA Project will train 3000 women across six States in Nigeria (Kano, Jigawa, Enugu, Anambra, Kwara and Oyo) and equip the beneficiaries with modern skills that aim to improve livelihood and increase income for sustainable living standards.
He concluded that the WATEA project will train 700 young female in Poultry farming, Climate Smart Agriculture and Fisheries production and processing for the next two weeks in Kwara State Polytechnic, Ilorin.
In an interview with the Rector of the institution, Engr. Dr. Abdul Jimoh, said without food no nation will thrive which is why they are interested in not just giving certificates but also training their students to be self-reliant through agriculture.
Represented by the Deputy Rector, Dr. Felicia Olabisi Awolola said women are thriving in other areas of business and they desire women’s participation in agriculture as well.
For his part, the HOD Agric, Kwara Poly, Banjoko Ibrahim Kayode said the skill is going to be beneficial to the students in terms of building their future, enhancing their income and their own personal livelihood.
The consultant of Kwara Poly on agribusiness, Obalowu Shuaib described the project as a world-recognized training, thanking the French government and the IITA for the choice of Kwara Poly as training center.
Obalowu, implored the beneficiaries to show high sense of commitment and grab the opportunity presented through this scheme to better their financial future.
One of the beneficiaries, Jelilat Adejumoke expressed her happiness, pointing out that it’s a big privilege to be captured under the project.
She added that the initiative will help develop her fish farming and make her an employer of labour.