The Delta State Government has reiterated its commitment to encourage women farmers in the state.
Senior Special Assistant to the Governor on Agricultural Matters, Chief Aneke Ifemeni, made the promise at the inauguration of the SHEFARMERS Initiative in Asaba.
Ifemeni assured the organisation that the State Government would support the project to enable it achieve its objectives.
He said the State Government was committed to supporting efforts geared towards ensuring food security in view of the high level of hunger and poverty in the land.
Ifemeni, who is the State Coordinator of the Delta State Coconut Development Programme (DESCODEP), commended the organisation for taking interest in increasing the productivity and purchasing power of women farmers in the state and urged the group not to relent.
The National President of the SHEFARMERS initiative, Kudirat Temitope-Andy, said the essence of the body was to create the enabling environment for women “agripreneurs’’ to get exposed to the global community to be able to access loans and grants to grow their business.
Temitope-Andy solicited the support of the government for the initiative, which she said would focus on training and value addition to farm produce to enhance the economic well-being of women farmers.
South South Coordinator of the initiative, Gloria Umukotete, said women farmers in the state had a lot to gain from the organisation and urged them to key into the overall interest of their agribusiness.
She assured those who lost their farm produce to the recent flooding that plans were on to compensate them.
The event, which was attended by women farmers from across the state, featured the exhibition of commodities and cutting of cake.