From Lateef Dada, Osogbo
The Vice-Chancellor of Osun State University (Uniosun), Prof Clement Adebooye has called for the empowerment of women as a panacea to the problem of food shortage in Nigeria.
He said the most populous African country can only be freed from this challenge of food shortage, only if the interests of women farmers, women sellers, and women producers are factored into national policy.
In his address during the Uniosun Women’s Day Celebration held at the Osogbo main campus, Adebooye
posited that the interest of women farmers is not taken into consideration in national planning despite their roles in the sustainability of Nigeria.
Prof Adebooye stressed that “food security in Nigeria will be a dream if we fail to factor the interest of women farmers, women sellers, and women producers into our national policy.
“It appears that women farmers are sustaining us and we are not taking
care of their interests in our national planning. Indeed, I state unrepentantly that one of the reasons that the previous policies on agricultural development in Nigeria have not achieved their desired targets is because we neglect the key roles of the vibrant smallholder, resource-poor, and voiceless women farmers,” he added.
The guest lecturer, Prof Olabisi Aina, who spoke on “Embracing Equity,” called for
urgent solutions to gender imbalance to enable even development.
Prof Aina posited that there are gender issues that must be addressed if there would be development.
According to her, “necessary plans and measures must be put in place to help women deliver safely. Unless we address gender issues, we might be far from development.
“There is a nexus between gender issues and development. That’s why the world is doing everything possible to bridge the gap and lean towards inclusiveness,” she added.