AfDB plans women empowerment in agriculture through technology
By Jimoh Babatunde
The African Development Bank has held a
high-level consultation with the Dutch government about developing a
platform for providing women with market information to enhance their
participation in agricultural trade. The discussions held at the
Bank’s headquarters in Abidjan recently focused on designing,
developing and implementing an Agricultural Trade and Investment
Market Intelligence Platform.
The Bank’s Special Envoy on Gender,
Geraldine Fraser-Moleketi and experts from the Centre for the
Promotion of Imports (CBI) from developing countries, a unit under
the Dutch’s Ministry of Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation,
explored options of designing a user friendly platform to ensure
needs of women were met.
Geraldine Fraser-Moleketi disclosed
that of importance to the AfDB was how to address gaps prohibiting
women from accessing relevant information that can help them reap
maximum profits from agriculture, emphasising the need for timely,
accurate and transparent information, and the economic empowerment of
women in the sector.
She pointed out that the initiative was
opportune, given the African Union Commission’s (AUC) declaration
of 2015, as the “Year of Women Economic Empowerment.” The Special
Envoy expressed the urgent need to go beyond conventional approaches
in meeting the information needs of women. “It is time to employ
innovative ways in alleviating gender-based constraints in
agricultural trade,” said Moleketi.
Just recently, the office of the SEOG
completed a study on “Women in Agricultural Value Chains”, which
identified gaps including information asymmetry, that compound market
access constraints. The Market Intelligence Platform will serve as a
knowledge-driven one-stop-shop, closing market access information
gaps that deter women, youth and men from equitable, profitable and
sustainable participation in agricultural trade.
CBI experts lauded the platform’s
market intelligence aspect, saying it provided exporters/users with
practical tips that had a direct boost to their businesses and
sustained market share”.
The Bank’s Director of Agriculture
and Agribusiness department, Chiji Ojukwu, reiterated the
initiative’s potential to contribute to improved intra-African
agricultural trade and regional economic integration. He described it
as an innovative and transformative catalytic tool for Africa’s
inclusive agricultural trade-driven economic and developmental
growth.
- See more at:
http://www.vanguardngr.com/2015/07/afdb-plans-women-empowerment-in-agriculture-through-technology/#sthash.4n5xyFfd.dpuf
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