The Anglican Diocese of Enugu through the Eastern Institute for Entrepreneurial Studies, (EIES) in conjunction with She Grows Her Food Initiative, has trained 400 women across twenty-three archdeaconries in the diocese on home gardening to enhance food security.
During the exercise, the women were trained on various agricultural practices, such as land preparations, bags method of cultivation, seeds selection, general nursery preparations, pre-sprouting, cloth germination techniques.
Others are irrigation technologies, use of organic and inorganic fertilizers, cassava and yam cultivation, branding and packaging techniques, pruning and stacking techniques, weather forecast and biosecurity.
The training was designed to equip and support women with non-conventional ways of cultivating agricultural crops.
EIES is nonprofit organisation established by Anglican Diocese of Enugu as a training centre on entrepreneurship development, leadership enhancement and value reorientation.
Speaking at the event, the Director EIES, Venerable Dr. Okechukwu ObiOkoye,
said that the initiative was in tandem with the vision of the diocese towards food sustainability for a people in the threshold of revival.
According to him, home gardening initiative aims to equip the women with the knowledge and skills needed to establish and maintain home gardens, enhancing food security and promoting sustainable living.
He also explained that the training provided practical knowledge for the participants on the growing need to empower women in the face of current economic hardship.
In his remark, the Chairman, Governing Council, EIES, Sir Engr Chris Okoye, urged the women to embrace home gardening initiative in a quest to enhance food production and sustainability, noting that food security is key to food sufficiency.
He noted that home gardening remained a vital practice for food production and environmental conservation.
He called on the participants to embrace the training as a pathway to financial independence and environmental sustainability and urged women to take advantage of the opportunities presented by the training to empower themselves. He recommended that every parish will subsequently grow her own food, following the template that had been created by the board.
“In fact, as part of sustainability plan, EIES will be introducing competition among various parishes in the diocese as well as encourage establishment of farms for practical agriculture. The farms will not only re-enforce what they learnt but serve as an avenue to train others,” he said.
Earlier, the wife of the Bishop, Enugu Diocese, Anglican Communion, Dr. Ruby Nneka Ike, explained that the training was targeted at building the capacity of women on homestead gardening as part of efforts targeted at promoting food security and wealth creation.
The event brought together agricultural experts and stakeholders across to impact knowledge to the women and men of the Diocese.
Highlight was the presentation of certificates to the participants by the Chairman, Governing Council, EIES.
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