The Federal Government through the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security is addressing food insecurity in the country through provision of farm inputs to farmers, especially women in cooperatives.

Alhaji Idris Sani, the Director, Federal Department of Cooperative in the ministry, said this at a media briefing to mark the 2024 International Day of Cooperatives, in Abuja on Saturday.

Sani said that cooperatives had the potentials to support government programmes to succeed and compliment governments’ efforts.

He listed the various types of cooperatives to include agricultural, marketing, consumer, housing, transportation, artisans among others.

According to him, cooperatives contribute to the development of our economy through employment generation, wealth creation and economic sustainability.

”Cooperatives are not left out in the socio-economic development of our country.

”Government provide budgetary allocation to cooperatives so that they can grow,” he said

Mr Emmanuel Atama, the Executive Secretary National Cooperative Financing Agency of Nigeria (CFAN), said the agency’s family feeding programme was key to achieve food security in Nigeria.

Atama, also the President, Abuja Cooperative Federation, said the theme of the day ‘Cooperative Build a Better World for All’ was in line with President Bola Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda.

He said that the World Bank was collaborating with CFAN to deepen financial inclusion in the country.

According to him, a work plan with timelines and deliverables had been put in place to achieve a national cooperative survey between June and December.

He said the plan was to ascertain the strength, weakness, opportunities and challenges of financial cooperatives to deliver on financial inclusion to the grassroots.

Atama appealed to Tinubu to constitute the National Cooperative Advisory Board as enshrined in the National Cooperative Development Policy of Nigeria (2002), to guide the cooperative reform process in the country.

Gracetiti Fredson, the President, National Coalition of Nigerian Women in Agricultural Business Cooperative Society, said their women have been supported by the Federal Government to ensure food availability.

She assured that in a matter of months, food production and availability would scale up due to the intervention by the Federal Department of Cooperative.

”We received some inputs from Federal Department of Cooperatives.

”We shared the input to our women in the 36 states and the FCT.

”Some of us engage in farming, processing and marketing. In the next few months, production will scale up,”she said.

Kyauta Yakubu, the National President, Nigeria Women Cooperative Federal Alliance Limited, said the support from the government to women would help to fight hunger.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the United Nations and other partners have declared every first Saturday of July as the International Day of Cooperatives.

This is to celebrate the contributions of cooperative to development and humanity.(NAN