Bima Constituency Empowerment Programme For Women And Youths In Zone A.
The Senator representing Niger South Senatorial District at the National Assembly, Bima Muhammad Enagi recently commenced another phase of his constituency empowerment programmes targeted at women and youths across Zone A on Rice and Shea Butter Processing.
The training which was conducted in collaboration with the National Directorate of Employment (NDE) included 65 selected participants from Edati, Lavun, Mokwa, Agaie, Katcha and Lapai local government areas commenced on 6th September, 2020.
Participants from Edati, Lavun and Mokwa were trained in rice processing while those from Agaie, Katcha and Lapai were trained to process Shea butter into essential cosmetic products.
The training was in fulfilment of part of the Bima campaign promises to drastically reduce unemployment and poverty among youths and women in Niger South Senatorial District.
Senator Bima is the sponsor of the National Rice Development Council Bill and the National Shea Development Council Bill at the National Assembly.
The bills are legislative interventions to drive the rice and Shea sectors in Nigeria. These trainings also validates the ongoing advocacy on the need to properly organize rice and Shea production in Nigeria to create sustainable jobs and increase government revenue.
It is also instructive to note that Nigeria has the largest stock of Shea trees producing about 57% of the total global production while Niger State has the largest stock of Shea trees in Nigeria.
Niger State also has capacity to contribute substantially to the national rice production output. Hence, the need to invest more in trainings those involved in the rice value change.
All participants trained under the Directorate’s Micro Enterprise Enhancement Scheme (MEES) went home with Starter Packs and a cash grant to boost their businesses.
Participants at the entrepreneurship and skills acquisition training sessions will further benefit from the Federal Government’s Social Investment Programme designed to support Small and Medium Scale Enterprises (SMEs).(outlook media).