The Federal Government has launched the National Gender Action Plan for Agriculture as part of efforts to reduce poverty and advance the rights of women and the girl-child.

Launching the action plan at the 2018 Women and Girls Summit organised by the National Centre for Women Development (NCWD) in collaboration with the office of the wife of the president, Hajiya Aisha Buhari and the Federal Ministry of Agricultural and Rural Development in Abuja on Thursday, Hajiya Buhari said at the end of the summit, solutions would be proffered to advance the education, security, health of women and girls in the country.

Represented by Hajiya Hajo Sanni she said girls’ education is one of the effective ways of ending poverty in developing countries, adding that the plan would support women in agriculture.

The guest of honour, the Minister, Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Development (MWASD), Hajiya Aisha Abubakar, said though the agricultural sector had improved in the past years, the expected result was yet to be achieved because women who are often a crucial resource reservoir in agriculture, faced constraints that reduced their productivity.

The Director General, NCWD, Mrs. Mary Ekpere-Eta, said issues concerning women must take the front burner in national discourse.

She said the outcome of the summit would attract the attention of policy makers to the critical issues and concerns that had continued to plague women and girls.