News
Supporting women farmers quickest route to attaining food security – Stakeholders
Supporting women farmers quickest route to attaining food security – Stakeholders
The Small-Scale Women Farmers Organization in Nigeria (SWOFON), Gombe State chapter, has called on the state government to support women in agriculture as well as youths to boost food security in the state and country.
The State Chairperson, SWOFON, Mrs. Airudia Mamman, made the call in Gombe on Thursday while commemorating the 2024 World Food Day in the state.
Mamman said that the quickest way to achieving food security efforts of the government was to empower small-scale women farmers in the state to cultivate more farmlands.
She said that with increased investments in line with the Malabo target of investing 10 per cent of their national budgets in agriculture, the state would be better placed to boost food availability.
According to her, since small-scale farmers form the largest population contributing to crops cultivation, supporting them will ensure that more farmers are reached for increased productivity.
Mamman called for more supports to women and youth farmers in the state while also urging government to release budgetary allocations to smallholder women farmers in the state.
She commended the state government for its supports to farmers, adding that with continued support, more women would be empowered and more jobs would be created.
“We urge the government to ensure timely release of funds allocated to smallholder farmers in the state annual budget to SWOFON to enable us implement our work plan towards boosting food security and reducing poverty.”
The Chief Executive Officer of Hope Foundation For the Lonely (HFL), Mrs Sarah Yapwa said that small-scale women farmers held the key to unlocking Nigeria’s potential in agriculture.
Yapwa said with the huge population of women in agriculture, leveraging that number would be the best way out of the threat of food crisis.
She said such farming population in the state, who are also involved in agriculture value-chain the state would not only be boosting food security but empowering women out of poverty and also tackling malnutrition.
She said if the state and Nigeria must have food in the near future, then ignoring women would be threatening to the food security efforts of government.
Other SWOFON members who spoke to NAN urged the state government to revamp irrigation farming in the state as way of mitigating the impact of climate change on agriculture.
On its part, the Gombe State government commended the contributions of small-scale women farmers in the state to boosting food security.
Mr Barnabas Malle, the state’s Commissioner of Agriculture and Animal Husbandry and Cooperatives gave the commendation, noting that women farmers form the largest farming population in the state.
Malle said that the state government had initiated several programmes and extension services aimed at supporting farmers to increase food availability in the state and country.
Malle who was represented by Mr Jonathan Bulus, Assistant Chief Principal Superintendent at the ministry said part of efforts to improve the agriculture sector led to the subsidising of fertilisers and other farm implements.
Our correspondent reports that the theme of the 2024 World Food Day which was marked on Wednesday is, “Right to Foods for a Better Life and a Better Future”
The event to commemorate the day in the state was organised by the Gombe State chapter of SWOFON, Hope Foundation for the Lonely.
This was done in collaboration with the Ministry of Agriculture and Animal Husbandry and Cooperatives with support from ActionAid Nigeria.
Supporting women farmers quickest route to attaining food security – Stakeholders
News
Centre lauds Kaduna Govt over life skills, gender education policies approval
Centre lauds Kaduna Govt over life skills, gender education policies approval
By Aisha Gambo
The Centre for Girls’ Education (CGE) has commended the Kaduna State Executive Council for approving the Kaduna State Life Skills Policy and the State Policy on Gender in Education (SPGE 2026–2030).
The Executive Director of the organisation, Habiba Mohammed, made this known in a statement issued on Wednesday in Kaduna.
She said the approval marked a transition from donor-supported, time-bound interventions to a sustainable, government-led framework for delivering life skills education and promoting gender equity in schools.
According to her, the Life Skills Policy will equip young people with the knowledge, skills, attitudes and values required to succeed in education, employment and life, while the Gender in Education Policy providzbves a framework to promote equity, inclusion, participation, retention, completion and improved learning outcomes.
“The approval moves life skills and gender equity from the margins of the classroom into the core of Kaduna State’s education system,” she said.
Mohammed said CGE contributed to the development and validation of the policies through its system-strengthening project supported by Co-Impact, OASIS Initiative and the Malala Fund, in collaboration with the Adolescent Girls Initiative for Learning and Empowerment (AGILE) and the Kaduna State Ministry of Education.
She said the policies built on more than 18 years of the organisation’s Safe Space model, which independent evaluations showed had helped reduce child marriage, increase school enrolment and delay early marriage.
According to her, the AGILE programme in Kaduna has reached more than 127,319 girls and 6,250 boys between the ages of 14 and 18, while over 1,400 female and male teachers have been trained as mentors.
She added that institutionalising the model through public policy would ensure that life skills education became a permanent component of the state’s education system.
Mohammed said the policies would address barriers to school access, retention and completion, particularly for girls and other vulnerable learners.
She added that they would also institutionalise life skills as a co-curricular programme, strengthen evidence-based decision-making across the state’s 23 local government areas and guarantee continuity beyond donor-funded programmes.
The executive director commended Gov. Uba Sani for providing the leadership that made the policy approval possible.
She also appreciated the Commissioner for Education, Prof. Abubakar Sani Sambo, the Kaduna State Ministry of Education, the AGILE State Project Implementation Unit, the World Bank and other stakeholders for their contributions to the process.
Mohammed reaffirmed CGE’s commitment to supporting the Kaduna State Government with technical assistance during the implementation phase, including teacher training, gender-responsive education sector budgeting and monitoring.
She said the ultimate goal was to ensure that every girl and boy in Kaduna State had the opportunity to learn, develop and thrive.
Centre lauds Kaduna Govt over life skills, gender education policies approval
News
Troops Kill Six ISWAP Fighters, Wound Seven in Failed Attack on Borno Military Base
Troops Kill Six ISWAP Fighters, Wound Seven in Failed Attack on Borno Military Base
By: Zagazola Makama
Six fighters of the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) were reportedly killed and seven others seriously wounded during a failed attack on a Forward Operating Base (FOB) at Logomani in Borno State, credible intelligence sources have disclosed.
The sources told Zagazola Makama that the terrorists launched the attack on the military position in the early hours of July 7 but suffered significant casualties after troops mounted a fierce resistance.
According to the intelligence assessment, the attackers had assembled at Garal before advancing on the military base.
Following the failed assault, surviving insurgents were reportedly seen regrouping at Chukun Gudu, where they buried six of their fighters killed during the encounter.
Among those reportedly buried was a senior fighter identified as Munzir, also known as Ba Alayi, who was said to be an indigene of Wulgo.
The development comes as troops of Operation HADIN KAI continue sustained clearance operations aimed at dismantling terrorist enclaves and disrupting insurgents’ logistics and mobility across the Lake Chad region.
Troops Kill Six ISWAP Fighters, Wound Seven in Failed Attack on Borno Military Base
Health
Cholera Outbreak Kills Nine ISWAP Terrorists in Timbuktu Triangle
Cholera Outbreak Kills Nine ISWAP Terrorists in Timbuktu Triangle
By: Zagazola Makama
A cholera outbreak has reportedly claimed the lives of nine fighters of the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) in the Timbuktu Triangle, a known terrorist stronghold in Borno State, intelligence sources have disclosed.
The sources told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that the outbreak had spread through the group’s enclaves, highlighting deteriorating sanitary conditions and limited access to medical care within the insurgents’ camps.
According to the intelligence, two additional ISWAP fighters infected with the disease were allegedly executed by fellow terrorists after attempts to manage their condition at Kimba village proved unsuccessful.
The sources said the development pointed to the worsening health conditions within the terrorist hideouts, where sustained military pressure has disrupted logistics, including access to medicines and treatment facilities.
The sources added that commanders had also been urged to intensify efforts to intercept medical supplies and pharmaceuticals intended for terrorist camps in order to further degrade ISWAP’s treatment capability and operational resilience.
The reported outbreak comes amid sustained offensives by troops of Operation HADIN KAI, who continue to target terrorist enclaves and logistics networks across the Lake Chad region in a bid to degrade the insurgents’ fighting capacity.
Cholera Outbreak Kills Nine ISWAP Terrorists in Timbuktu Triangle
-
News2 years agoRoger Federer’s Shock as DNA Results Reveal Myla and Charlene Are Not His Biological Children
-
Opinions4 years agoTHE PLIGHT OF FARIDA
-
News1 year agoFAILED COUP IN BURKINA FASO: HOW TRAORÉ NARROWLY ESCAPED ASSASSINATION PLOT AMID FOREIGN INTERFERENCE CLAIMS
-
News2 years agoEYN: Rev. Billi, Distortion of History, and The Living Tamarind Tree
-
Opinions5 years agoPOLICE CHARGE ROOMS, A MINTING PRESS
-
ACADEMICS2 years agoA History of Biu” (2015) and The Lingering Bura-Pabir Question (1)
-
Columns2 years agoArmy University Biu: There is certain interest, but certainly not from Borno.
-
Politics1 year ago2027: Why Hon. Midala Balami Must Go, as Youths in Hawul and Asikira/Uba Federal Constituency Reject ₦500,000 as Sallah Gift
