New initiative aims to move millions of women from subsistence farming to agri-business success under Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda
By Dr. Nafisat Makinde
The Federal Government has unveiled the Women’s Agro Value Expansion (WAVE) Programme, a bold initiative designed to lift women farmers from subsistence to prosperity.
Minister of Women Affairs, Imaan Sulaiman-Ibrahim, announced the programme on Thursday at the Renewed Hope – Government Enterprise and Empowerment Programme (RH-GEEP) Roundtable in Abuja, describing it as central to President Bola Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda.
“Women make up nearly 70 percent of Nigeria’s agricultural workforce, yet they remain largely excluded from value chains and markets,” she said. “When we empower a woman, we empower her family, her community, and, in turn, our nation.”
She explained that WAVE will provide access to finance, training, mechanization, storage, and market opportunities to cut post-harvest losses, boost productivity, and expand women’s access to trade.
“The WAVE Programme has a dual objective: to build women’s capacities within agri-food systems so they can be prosperous, and to support Nigerian women to feed the nation,” the Minister said, urging stakeholders to collaborate more closely to move millions from farmgate operators to agri-preneurs.
“Women’s issues cannot be relegated to charity. They need access, opportunity, and genuine partnership,” she added, calling for sustained support to unlock the economic potential of women in agriculture and contribute meaningfully to the ₦1 trillion economy envisioned under the Renewed Hope Agenda.
