The Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security, in collaboration with the international development partners, has formally validated the Revised National Gender Policy on Agrifood Systems Transformation for Nigeria (NGPAST) alongside its Strategic Plan of Action during an inter-ministerial summit in Abuja.
This policy overhaul has been initiated because of severe, long-standing gender inequalities that systematically restrict female smallholders from accessing arable land, credit lines, and modern technical training.
Federal authorities have established an enforceable framework designed to dismantle structural barriers and trigger sustainable growth across the country’s rural ecosystems.
The newly implemented policy is positioned as a cornerstone reform to make national food systems remarkably resilient, equitable, and production-focused. Addressing dignitaries on behalf of the Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, Abubakar Kyari, the Minister of State, Senator Aliyu Sabi Abdullahi, categorised the document as a practical, ground-level mechanism.
Minister Kyari’s speech underscored that while the agricultural sector remains the primary engine of Nigeria’s economic diversification and job creation, persistent gender disparities continue to limit productivity severely.
The integration of targeted, gender-responsive approaches into major interventions is now classified as an economic necessity to unlock the sector’s stalled potential, ensuring that the policy moves beyond paperwork into measurable execution.
The ministry has committed to deploying strict monitoring and accountability units across the federation.
The development of the NGPAST document represents a highly collaborative effort, involving extensive nationwide consultations backed by organisations such as ActionAid Nigeria, AGRA, and the German development agency, GIZ.
The Minister of State, Aliyu Sabi Abdullahi, pointed out that these interventions directly reflect the economic inclusion targets embedded within President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda.
Furthermore, the ministry is actively collaborating with the Office of the First Lady, Oluremi Tinubu, to scale up the grassroots “Every Home a Garden” initiative, a domestic cultivation movement paired with local nutrition and home economics knowledge transfer.
Flagship state programmes, such as the Renewed Hope Mechanisation Programme and the Cooperative Revamp Programme, have already updated their protocols to ensure women and young smallholders are prioritised for early tractor allocation and agricultural credit lines.
Earlier in the event, the Permanent Secretary of the ministry, Dr Marcus Ogunbiyi, who was represented by the Director of Farm Input Support Services, Mr Abana Waziri Abba, noted that the structural framework will directly overhaul input distribution. By centralising coordination, the policy aims to guarantee that vulnerable and historically marginalised farming clusters gain unhindered access to high-yield seeds, fertilisers, and agro-allied supply chains.
Source: Leadership News
Image Credit: The Authority
