The Honourable Minister of Livestock Development, Idi Mukhtar Maiha, has reaffirmed the Federal Government’s commitment to placing women at the centre of Nigeria’s livestock transformation, declaring that “women are the backbone of the livestock economy.”
Speaking at a high-level breakfast meeting in Abuja, the Minister emphasised that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda has elevated livestock as a national development priority and created new opportunities for women to lead, own businesses, and prosper. He also applauded the First Lady, Senator Oluremi Tinubu, for her unwavering advocacy for women’s empowerment.
“So, to every woman here, you are not behind the scenes. You are on the front lines. You are not a sidebar—you are the main agenda. Your work matters. Your voice matters. Your leadership matters.
“This Ministry is your partner. We will work hand-in-hand with AWARFA-N and all stakeholders to expand opportunities, especially in high-value chains like honey, goats, dairy, and poultry. We are here to listen, to support, and to act.
Earlier, the Permanent Secretary, Dr. Chinyere Ijeoma Akujobi, welcomed participants and reiterated that women remain the driving force behind food production, family nutrition, local markets, and value-chain activities.
She highlighted that the Ministry’s National Livestock Growth and Acceleration Strategy (NL-GAS) deliberately identifies Women and Youth as one of its ten core pillars.
The Permanent Secretary also announced the forthcoming launch of the National Presidential Youth and Women Initiatives in Livestock, which will create thousands of jobs across all 774 LGAs.
Presenting AWARFA-N’s five-year strategy, Victoria Madedor outlined the organisation’s vision to become the leading platform for supporting women’s investment and business growth in animal resources and agribusiness.
She emphasised sustainability, capacity building, access to finance, value-chain development, technology, and advocacy as the five pillars guiding the 2025–2029 strategy. She urged partners to deepen support for women’s enterprise development, including access to land, climate-smart technologies, and feed-production skills.
Delivering a goodwill message on behalf of AU-IBAR, Dr. Sarah Ossiya stressed the need for a new era of intentional inclusion of women in livestock systems, noting that undernutrition reduces Africa’s GDP by up to 10 percent.
She stressed that “when you feed animals right, you feed people right,” and called for increased financing and land-use reforms to unlock women’s full potential.