The fourth capacity-building training for the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development staff was held from 12^th – 14^th June 2021 at ARMTI, Abuja.  The training organized by sahel consulting was attended by 41 participants selected from FMARD departments, six (6) of which were from the state offices in Gombe, Nasarawa, Kaduna, Taraba, Ogun and the rest from the Abuja office.

The objectives for the training were for the participants to:

1. Develop an understanding of gender inclusion skills and techniques for designing gender- sensitive policies and implementing gender sensitive programs.
2. Understand the distinction between gender sensitive approaches and gender transformative approaches.
3. Understand and appreciate the need for inclusive considerations in agricultural programs within FMARD and external programs.
4. Reflect and understand why gender equitable and gender inclusive agriculture is integral to the development of the agricultural sector.

Breakout Sessions for Group Exercises

Participants were taken through different sessions including; Gender Spotlight in Nigeria & How to reduce the Gender Gap, The Impact of Inclusive & Equitable Activities in Agriculture, Enabling Framework for Gender Sensitive and Transformative Approaches in FMARD, Tackling Sectoral Gender Blindness, Considerations for Designing and Implementing gender-Inclusive Agricultural Policies, Addressing Data & Communication Gaps in FMARD, Developing gender Sensitive M&E Tools, and breakout sessions on key takeaways & practical next steps for FMARD.

Comfort & Laraba sharing their experiences as women in agriculture with the Participants

Two women-farmers were invited to share their experiences, challenges, barriers, and opportunities as women in agriculture with the participants. In making a case for the vital role women play in agricultures both women noted that “Gone are the days where women divorced their husbands to marry another for not feeding them, women have grown to become contributors to their households”.

It is therefore important to ensure that agricultural initiatives and programs designed to empower women are tailored to meet their specific needs to avoid targeting the wrong issues. The importance of women’s access to farming land, machinery, finances, and other resources was also highlighted as a sure strategy to propel Nigeria towards being more food secure.

Some of the key takeaways shared by the participants were that:

• FMARD and the government at large must ensure that a bottom-top participatory approach is
  used when designing support programs for the farming A comprehensive, gender intentional needs assessment must be done first.
• Educating and supporting womenfarmers is easier when the men are carried along.
• Every department should prioritize data collection and record-keeping to inform evidence-based policy decisions. Departments should also leverage on relationships with private organizations, NGOs, and research institutes to access relevant data and expertise to make their work more efficient.