The Nigerian government has announced plans to launch the Women’s Agro Value Expansion (WAVE) Programme, an initiative aimed at transitioning women from farmgate operators to agri-preneurs and value creators.
The Minister of Women Affairs, Imaan Sulaiman-Ibrahim, made this known at the Renewed Hope – Government Enterprise and Empowerment Programme (RH-GEEP) Roundtable Meeting on Thursday in Abuja.
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Mrs Sulaiman-Ibrahim said the programme is designed to expand women’s participation in agricultural value chains while strengthening food security.
She also reaffirmed the government’s commitment to women’s empowerment, stressing that women’s economic inclusion is essential to national development.
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“When we empower a woman, we empower her entire family, her community, and, in turn, our nation. Women are the first investors in the health, nutrition, and education of their children, creating ripple effects that lift every household they touch,” she said.
She added that while women constitute nearly 70 per cent of Nigeria’s agricultural workforce, there is a persistent imbalance that sidelines women from value addition, markets, and decision-making, despite their heavy contributions.
What WAVE seeks to achieve
According to the minister, the WAVE Programme will support women to move beyond subsistence farming by blending access to finance, skills development, market linkages, agribusiness support, mechanisation and storage facilities to drastically reduce post-harvest loss.
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She said the initiative will enhance productivity, and expand women’s participation in both local and international markets.
“The WAVE Programme has a dual objective: to build women’s capacities within agri-food systems so they can be prosperous, and to support Nigerian women to feed the nation,” she said.
Linking finance with enterprise support
Mrs Sulaiman-Ibrahim highlighted the synergy between WAVE and the RH-GEEP financial inclusion drive, noting that access to finance must be complemented with skills, enterprise support, and value addition to truly lift women.
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“Women’s issues cannot be relegated to charitable causes. They need access, opportunity, and genuine partnership. Together, we can move millions of women from subsistence to prosperity and meaningfully contribute to the N1 trillion economy envisioned by Mr President under the Renewed Hope Agenda.”
The minister called on stakeholders, including the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, the National Social Investment Programme Agency (NSIPA), and development partners, to deepen collaboration in advancing women’s empowerment through agriculture.
She urged partners to remain steadfast in building a future where Nigerian women are central to economic growth and national development.
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