The Director of Agribusiness Incubation Centre, Michael Okpara University of Agriculture, Umudike, Dr Philips Nto has urged Igbo women to avail themselves of the annual August meeting to boost food security.
He said they could do this by teaching the rural women the benefits of value chain addition in agriculture and how to enhance food production generally.
He said now that the greatest challenge facing Nigerians is food, women should lead the campaign to get rural women back to the farms again.
Nto , a former Commissioner for Finance and Economic Development in Abia state who spoke to newsmen in his office at the weekend, noted that traditionally women were important segment for labour and agricultural value chain, and urged them to return to that role.
He said that the August women meeting should be anchored around ensuring food security and sovereignty as the major agenda.
He advocated the revitalization of the umuada system, employing it as a tool for enhancing agricultural productivity.
Said he, ” the Umuada system is a veritable tool through which women can form cooperative societies and farm labour rotation for which they can boost food production “
” Previously in the South East, of Nigeria, August meeting was an avenue through which women constituted the engine of growth for agriculture, specialising in crops like Cassava, cowpea, three leaf yam, vegetables and maize among others for all round production. I believe we should resuscitate it”, he submitted.
Dr Nto who is the immediate past Provost of Abia State College of Education, Technical, Arochukwu, called on all tiers of government to support women cooperative societies to ensure they contributed to food security in Nigeria.
He disclosed that the Agribusiness Incubation Centre at MOUAU will always assist the women with expertise in modern means of farming, including the provision of high yielding seedlings.
