Solidaridad, a non-governmental organisation that promotes agriculture, has called on the government to stop indiscriminate deforestation as a means of addressing Nigeria’s ongoing vegetable shortages. They contend that this practice exacerbates the declining productivity of vegetables and harms the environment.
This appeal was made in Kaduna during an event commemorating the end of Solidaridad’s five-year intervention in Kaduna and Kano states, which aimed to improve Nigeria’s vegetable market.
Solidaridad’s Senior Programme Officer, Earnest Ita, spoke at the event and emphasised the importance of the government enacting gender-inclusive policies and taking deliberate actions to improve women’s and other vulnerable groups’ access to agricultural land, farm inputs, and infrastructure at the state and local levels.
According to him, “Solidaridad gained entry into Kaduna State in 2020 through a Sustainable Development Goal Project, Transforming Nigeria’s Vegetable Markets, being implemented in six LGAs of Kaduna State, which are Kudan, Kubau, Makarfi, Sabon Gari, Zaria, and Soba.’’
“We work with a consortium of partners with separate roles in delivering different project components whose target is smallholder vegetable farmers to enable them to improve yield and income, health, and contribute to household nutrition and national food security,” he said.
He listed some of the project’s achievements in the six LGAs in Kaduna State, including mobilising 7,750 women and 6,030 youth to participate in the SDGS, facilitating the formation of 78 women and 60 youth vegetable farmer groups, and supporting the establishment of 89 Village Loan and Saving Association (VLSA) groups.
He did, however, urge the Ministry of Local Government and the relevant state offices responsible for Chieftaincy Affairs to ensure that gender-inclusive policies properly promote women and other disadvantaged individuals’ access to productive assets in the state.
“The Ministry of Agriculture and relevant departments and agencies of government should review or enact relevant policies and enforce them towards halting indiscriminate deforestation, which impacts the environment negatively and heightens the declining productivity of vegetables in Kaduna State,” he added.
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