******2023 World Food Day Celebration#: ENVIRUMEDIC Collaborates With Delta Agric Ministry As SWOFON Makes Demands From DTSG.
*#Flood & Water Pollution#: Two Major Enemies of Food Production, Says Oborevwori As SWOFON join forces with DMANR
***#Food Security#: Delta State Commissioner For Agriculture, ENVIRUMEDIC, SWOFON, Farmers, Agricultural Stakeholders, Others Speaks.
By Victor Bieni, Asaba
As part of efforts to boost food security, production in the state, Delta State Government in partnership with Small-scale Women Farmers Organisation In Nigeria (SWOFON), Environmental and Rural Mediation Centre (ENVIRUMEDIC), a Non-governmental Organization with support from ActionAid Nigeria in collaboration with State Ministry of Agriculture and Natural Resources in Delta State, has commended Governor Sheriff Oborevwori led administration, while describing the programs and Projects of Delta State Ministry of Agriculture And Natural Resources as laudable and enjoined Small Scale Women Farmers Organization in Nigeria (SWOFON) and other Agriculture stakeholders to key into Government Programs.
ENVIRUMEDIC led by its CEO, Monday Oghenerouna Itoghor made this remark through his representative, the Program Officer for ENVIRUMEDIC, Alex Okekporo during the World Food Day as Celebrated by Delta State Ministry of Agriculture and Natural Resources in Partnership with Environmental And Rural Mediation Centre (ENVIRUMEDIC) on Monday 16th October, 2023 to mark the world Food day, the event held at the Cenotaph, Asaba, Delta State capital as Delta State Commissioner for Agriculture and Natural Resources, Mr. Perez Omoun stated that Delta State Government is highly committed to huge investments in Agricultural Sector.
ENVIRUMEDIC, a Non-governmental Organization based in Delta State is working on the thematic areas Food and Agriculture, Environment, Education, Community Development, Good Governance, domestication of global Goals SDGs 1, 2, 3( No Poverty, Zero Hunger, Good Health) and with Support from ActionAid Nigeria to domesticate Malabo Declaration of 2014 to allocate 10% of total budget to Agriculture towards boosting Agricultural growth and development in the state and achievement of United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, agenda 2030.
Small-scale Women Farmers Organisation In Nigeria (SWOFON) is a coalition of Women Farmers Association and groups. SWOFON has a network of over 500,000 Smallholder Women Farmers in the 36 States of the Federation and Federal Capital Territory across the country at large. SWOFON has commended Delta State Government for organizing the event. You could recall that ENVIRUMEDIC with support from ActionAid Nigeria has been working with smallholder Women farmers under the umbrella of SWOFON to boost food security in Delta State and Nigeria in general through the Scaling Up Public Investment in Agriculture (SUPIA) project of ActionAid Nigeria.
ENVIRUMEDIC has supported SWOFON and other Agriculture critical Stakeholders in the areas of training, capacity building, sensitization, advocacy, technical supports in order to boost food security in Delta State State. In recognition of the good works of ENVIRUMEDIC, Delta State Ministry of Agriculture and Natural Resources, farmers and other critical Agricultural stakeholders have been commending the good works of ENVIRUMEDIC in Delta State and Nigeria in general.
Speaking at the World Food Day Celebration event by Delta State Governor, Rt. Hon. Sheriff Oborevwori ably represented by his Deputy, Sir Monday Onyeme, has stated that flood and water pollution were hampering food production in Nigeria and called on the Federal Government and the United Nations to tackle the menace to ensure food sufficiency in the country. The Governor added that, the aim of the day was to promote global awareness and action for those who suffer from hunger, and to highlight the need to ensure healthy diets for all.
In his words: “However, water pollution is a major challenge. The loss by farmers, as a result of flood, cannot be quantified as its psychological effects on our people is enormous. Our state, Delta, is listed among the states that will be affected by flood this year. As a government, this warning has become important, though, the State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA) and the State Flood Disaster Management Committee have put measures in place to mitigate the effects of flood on our people, should it occur”.
“We shall work with other governmental agencies, organizations and individuals to tackle the challenges facing our farmers as we deliver on our M.O.R.E Agenda which was designed to advance Deltans positively in all spheres of life”. He expressed elation at the high demand for agricultural produce from Delta State in different parts of the world, from oil palm, maize, cassava, yam, fruits, vegetables, tomatoes, pepper, poultry and fish from both fresh water and brackish water to tapioca, spices, among others.
Welcoming guests earlier, the State Commissioner for Agriculture and Natural Resources, Mr. Perez Omoun, said the State Government places great premium on the Agricultural sector by embarking on various programmes aimed at improving the agricultural value chain in line with the MORE Agenda of the Governor to ensure all Deltans had access to adequate quality and quantity of food and water.
In a separate interview, Alex Okekporo of ENVIRUMEDIC told our reporter while fielding questions from some group of Journalists during the event that what informed the NGO’s decision to celebrate with Delta State Government, collaborate with Delta State Ministry of Agriculture And Natural Resources is because the Ministry has fantastic Programs and Projects that smallholder farmers can key into. He added that the collaboration will further strengthen the relationship between ENVIRUMEDIC and the Ministry. Agric stakeholders then urged Delta State Government to make Agriculture sector a priority towards achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, agenda 2030 on food Security.
During the World Food Day Celebration, Small-scale Women Farmers Organisation In Nigeria (SWOFON) presented a charter of demand to His Excellency, Executive governor of Delta State, Rt. Hon. Sherriff Oborevwori ably represented by His Deputy – Sir Monday Onyeme. The demand state that: Delta State Government creates awareness on Cassava Development Program. That Delta State Government should have a budget line to fund National Gender Policy. That Delta State Government, Ministry of Agriculture and Natural Resources should have budgetary Allocation, budget line to fund SWOFON. That Delta State Ministry of Agriculture and Natural Resources should invest heavily, huge in some strategic areas of Agric such as Youths Agric employment, Agric extension, Research, and Technologies.
Other demands included amongst others are: That Delta State Government, Ministry of Agriculture and Natural Resources should train female SWOFON members as Agric extension workers. That Gender equity should be maintained to foster Agric policies by Smallholder Women Farmers. That Delta State Government, Ministry of Agriculture and Natural Resources should support SWOFON with capacity development programme, labour-saving and technologies and establish a mechanism of indicators for data collection to benefits Smallholder Women Farmers in Delta State.