The federal government says it will partner the UN Women on its digital agricultural platform to harness the benefits for rural women in Nigeria.

Minister of Women Affairs, Pauline Tallen, disclosed this in a statement on Wednesday.

Ms Tallen spoke when she received Beatrice Eyong, the new UN Women’s country representative to Nigeria and ECOWAS.

Ms Tallen noted that the digital platform of the UN-Women aligns with the Ministry’s World Bank-assisted project on women’s economic empowerment, “Nigeria for Women Project (NFWP).”

She noted that the main challenge affecting women was poverty, asking the government and other stakeholders to prioritise and channel resources toward addressing it.

“If the government could focus more on empowering women, it will not only change the lives of women alone but jump-start the economy,” she said.

The minister added, “More resources should be devoted to women empowerment projects. Once a woman is empowered, the home and lifestyle of her family will change, and the nation will be healthier and better off.”

Ms Eyong stressed that the digital agriculture platform would enhance rural communities’ economic and financial capacities, introduce them to the digital economy, and prepare them for climate change.

She also mentioned that the platform was applied in Mali, Senegal and other parts of Africa, embraced by rural women farmers.

According to Ms Eyong, the UN Women in Nigeria is developing a “new strategy note,” which is the organisation’s plan for the next five years on the needs of women, girls and the vulnerable in the country.

She explained that they had incorporated field data from six geopolitical zones covering 36 states of Nigeria into the document.

(NAN)