In a significant move towards empowering women in agriculture and ensuring food security, the World Bank-assisted Livestock Productivity and Resilience Support (L-PRES) project has announced plans to empower over 5,200 female livestock farmers in Nigeria’s Taraba State.

This initiative is part of a broader scheme aiming to enhance livestock productivity and commercialization nationwide, with a target of benefiting 1.43 million people. The state of Taraba alone is expected to see 40,000 beneficiaries, 13 percent of whom are women, underscoring a commitment to incorporate them into the livestock value chain.

The selected livestock categories for this initiative in Taraba include cattle, sheep, goats, and poultry. The project’s focus will be on activities such as production, milk processing, feed and equipment supply, input, and pasture establishment. By directing resources and training towards these areas, the L-PRES project seeks to foster a more robust and sustainable livestock industry.

Parallel Efforts Towards Food Security

Concurrently, the Federal Government’s National Poverty Reduction with Growth Strategy is providing aid to 257 small-scale farmers in Akwa Ibom State. The support consists of distributing various agricultural inputs such as day-old chicks, poultry and fish feed, sprayers, herbicides, liquid fertilizers, and seedlings for crops such as okra, maize, tomatoes, and pepper. The primary goal of this assistance is to boost food production, ensure food security, and contribute to the nation’s self-sufficiency in food.

Beneficiaries, selected from all 31 local government areas in Akwa Ibom, are urged to utilize the inputs effectively and abstain from reselling them. This call underscores the importance of the initiative’s intended impact on food security and the broader agricultural sector.

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