By Joan Nwagwu
The First Lady, Sen. Oluremi Tinubu, on Tuesday inaugurated the Renewed Hope Initiative (RHI), women agriculture support programme in the North-East zone of the country.
Mrs Tinubu, while inaugurating the programme, said the initiative was part of RHI’s commitment to supporting women farmers nationwide.
The maiden edition of the RHI-WASP was held in the South-East on Feb. 28.
The first lady was represented by the Wife of the Vice President, Hajia Nana Shettima.
Tinubu said this would align with the broader national agenda to strengthen the agricultural sector in the country.
She said that the programme was supporting 20 women farmers per State in the North-East Zone with N500,000 each.
“To this end, a draft cheque of N10 million per State for the North-East Zone will be handed over to the wives of the governors of Adamawa, Bauchi, Borno, Gombe, Taraba and Yobe, the RHI State Coordinators, for onward disbursement to beneficiaries in their respective States.
“These farmers are those in the agrarian sector, animal husbandry, poultry and fish farming,” she said.
She added that the initiative would be collaborating with the Federal Ministry of Agriculture to empower potential farmers.
Tinubu said that in this phase, 75 per cent of the beneficiaries would be young female farmers while 25 per cent would be for the young male farmers.
“They will all be specially identified, trained and empowered.
“Also, the pre-identified 80 women farmers in each State for our agricultural support programme will be carried along.
“I want to implore our women farmers receiving support today, to seize this opportunity to expand their agricultural ventures.
“They should also contribute to local and national food production, and serve as role models for others aspiring to join the agricultural sector.
“I am confident that this initiative will not only transform the lives of the individual beneficiaries, but also contribute to food sufficiency in the North East Zone,” She said.
She urged the women farmers to seize the opportunity to expand their agricultural ventures, contribute to local and national food production.
The first lady added that the programme was holding simultaneously in three other zones.
Meanwhile, 100 Persons with Disability Small Business Owners in Borno, have been empowered with N100,000 each, to recapitalise their businesses under the Renewed Hope Initiative Social Investment Programme (RHI-SIP).
The First Lady said that all pre-selected recipients of the grant would receive the funds on Tuesday, through RHI coordinator for Borno, Dr Falmata Babagana Zulum.
She also listed some upcoming and ongoing activities of the initiative as “Every Home A Garden”, “Food on EveryTable”, and “Young Farmers’ Club”.
“I look forward to witnessing the impact of this intervention in the lives of our women farmers, and the broader agricultural community across Nigeria,” she added. (NAN)
Edited by Joseph Edeh
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