Women can drive growth, food security if supported — Minister

The Minister of Women Affairs and Social Development, Hajiya Imaan Sulaiman-Ibrahim, says Nigerian women must receive targeted support to transform into household production lines capable of driving economic growth, food security, and poverty reduction.

She made these remarks during a strategic courtesy visit by the Managing Director of the Bank of Agriculture (BOA), Mr. Ayo Sotinrin, to the ministry’s headquarters in Abuja.

The courtesy visit aimed at exploring areas of collaboration on women empowerment and agribusiness development.

In her address, the minister identified the lack of financial access as the critical missing link stopping women from scaling up their production and agricultural ventures.

According to her, women already possess the necessary resilience, technical skills, and entrepreneurial capabilities but lack proper access to productive assets and targeted funding.

“Beyond supporting smallholder farmers, we must also think about women who are already in production but need support to grow their ventures.

“They should be able to become household production lines, creating value, generating income and contributing to national development,” she said.

Sulaiman-Ibrahim said the ministry was implementing programmes to economically empower women, particularly through the Women Agricultural Empowerment (WAVE) Programme and the Nigeria for Women Project Scale-Up.

She said that many women participating in the programmes had shown strong interest in agriculture, agro-processing and food systems businesses.

The minister said collaboration with the BOA would help bridge financing gaps and create opportunities for women to scale up their enterprises.

She cited the experiences of rural women who work long hours on others’ farms for meagre returns, saying strategic investments could transform their livelihoods and improve household incomes.

“We have women who already know the work. What they need is support, facilities and opportunities to expand.

“When women succeed economically, the benefits extend to nutrition, family welfare, community development and national productivity,” she said.

Sulaiman-Ibrahim also highlighted challenges faced by women entrepreneurs involved in agro-processing, storage, packaging and manufacturing, stressing the need for interventions across the entire value chain.

She said the ministry had received expressions of interest from more than 33,000 women seeking support to expand their businesses under the WAVE Programme.

Earlier, Sotinrin said women constituted nearly half of the participants across Nigeria’s agricultural value chains, making them central to efforts to achieve food security and economic growth.

He said the BOA was prioritising women-focused financing programmes designed to improve access to credit, financial inclusion and market opportunities.

According to him, the bank is ready to partner with the ministry to support women farmers, agro-processors and entrepreneurs through sustainable financing models.

Sotinrin said the collaboration would help lift more women out of poverty, strengthen rural economies and enhance agricultural productivity nationwide.

He added that the bank would work with the ministry’s technical team to develop and implement practical interventions that reach millions of women across the country.

The BOA delegation included Raheena Adeleke, Strategist, Office of the Managing Director; Renee Phil-Agbasi, Special Assistant to the Managing Director; and Mr Mai Renti Ishaku, Head of Product Segment.