Kenya Summit: Nigerian wins 2021 women agriprenuer award

The Founder and Executive Director of WOFAN, Hajia Salamatu Garba, has emerged as the winner of Value4her Women Agriprenuer of the Year 2021 (WAYA2021) at the 2021 Africa Green Revolution Forum (AGRF) held in Kenya.

Garba said in a statement in Abuja on Saturday that over 2,500 farmers competed from 21 African Countries.

She said that the award recognised WOFAN‘s innovations in the field of mobilising over 4,500 functional and mobilised key smallholder farmer’s groups.

She stated that WOFAN had also created 5,000 fully registered women and youths in agribusiness, adding that 80 percent of which were women who were into various agribusinesses along with various crop value sectors.

The 2021 AGRF was a hybrid summit with the theme “Pathways to Recovery and Resilient Food Systems” hosted in partnership with the Government of Kenya from Sept. 7, to Sept. 10.

The Summit convened close to 7,000 participants virtually, including African presidents, agriculture ministers, agricultural stakeholders, multilateral and experts.

This, according to her, was to discuss ways the continent could transform food systems and accelerate progress to eradicating hunger and poverty.

Garba, however, promised to continue to be an advocate of re-thinking agriculture and the food systems in Africa.

According to her, the leaders need to creatively invest in simple equipment and technologies with an amplified application, use and development of ICT-related farm technology.

She stated that inclusiveness in the financial section and access to finance and trade opportunities across the region needed to be magnified for visibility and action.

She urged financial institutions to roll out friendly policies to address climate change financing to mitigate the shock being faced globally.

Garba noted that women and youths were the neck of agriculture because they carried the head and body of food security in Africa.

NAN/Nnenna.O