FG empowers 76 female farmers with laptops to boost agribiz

The Federal Government has empowered 76 female farmers and entrepreneurs with laptops as startup tools to enhance their businesses having completed a five-day training in Information Communication Technology (ICT) at the National Centre for Women Development (NCWD), Abuja. The wife of the president, Hajiya Aisha Buhari, who presented the startup tools to the female farmers […]

The Federal Government has empowered 76 female farmers and entrepreneurs with laptops as startup tools to enhance their businesses having completed a five-day training in Information Communication Technology (ICT) at the National Centre for Women Development (NCWD), Abuja.

The wife of the president, Hajiya Aisha Buhari, who presented the startup tools to the female farmers and entrepreneurs said the training was all about promoting the socio-economic development of women and youth who constitute 70 percent of the country’s population.

Hajiya Buhari, represented by a special adviser in her office, Hajiya Hajo Sani, said the five-day training with theme, ‘Discovering, Empowering and Achieving Milestones Through ICT’ came at the right for the beneficiaries as the world is going digital, adding that it will serve as an eye-opener for them using ICT.

“We don’t have criteria for picking these women but selections are made from the states and women from hard to reach communities are selected to participate in these empowerment programmes. The programmes are sustainable because most of them are not only government driven, but with the support of private partners. We have other partners, we have development partners that are very interested in the development of women and this kind of empowerment programme.

“The success of each programme will enable other stakeholders to participate, so the work is sustainable because it is not only government driven.”

The Director General, NCWD, Mrs Mary Ekpere-Eta, said no nation could fully develop to its full potential without investing in education, empowerment and development of its citizenry, especially women.

She said as an agency, they will continue to train and empower youth, who form more than 70 per cent of the nation’s population on ICT, vocational and entrepreneurial skills development, so they could be self-reliant and contribute to the economic development of the country.

“It is our hope that the system will be put to best use. We will continue to support and track the progress of all the participants to ensure they succeed in their chosen fields,” she said.

Mrs Ekpere-Eta added that NCWD is in partnership with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to access loans of between N1 and N10 million for their businesses, adding that the participants would submit their proposals based on their businesses and would be given long-term payment plans because agriculture takes time to grow for profit making.

One of the beneficiaries, Chidinma Emeka, said the training exposed her a lot on the use of ICT in her farming business, adding that before, she did not know how to market her products.

She said she will share her experience with other young female farmers and entrepreneurs when she returned to her community, adding that doing business using ICT is a lot easier that the old way.