By Lola Seriki-Idahosa, Kaduna
Tracereporters –The Federal Ministry of Innovation, Science and Technology, Department of Health and Biomedical sciences in collaboration with the Kaduna State Ministry of Human Services and Social Development has trained no fewer than 50 Vulnerable women in the making of charcoal briquettes and also distribute the briquette stoves to the women.
The one day training workshop on the use of technology to reduce workload in women at skills acquisition and skills upgrading training centre was held on the 7th September, kaduna State at the ministry of Human Services and Social Development.
In her speech, Mrs Oluwatoyin Jegede, the Chief Scientific Officer who was represented by the honourable minister of Innovation, science and technology said the objective of the workshop is to reduce workload in women through the promotion and deployment of labour-saving technologies, thereby leading to improvement of health of women and enhance their ability to cater for their
households.
She said despite the growing female participation rates in the workforce and the growing contribution of women to economic growth and GDP globally, the fact remains that women are still primarily responsible for domestic care and developing countries including Nigeria, domestic tasks entails engaging in demanding tasks such as deaning food preparation and cooking.
According to her, “These domestic tasks especially food preparation can be long and often strenuous, the physical and emotional demands of domestic labour cannot be overemphasized and this varies across age categories and pregnancy status among rural Nigerian women.
“Available records indicate that millions of women in Nigeria are estimated to spend an average of 13hours per day performing domestic work as majority of them do not have access to labour- saving equipment,
“It therefore becomes imperative to implement programmes such as the one we are having today in order to empower rural women in Nigeria, reduce their workload, improve their income, develop a stable source of livelihood, as well as contribute to ensuring improved nutritional status of their children and households in general.
She said the labour-saving technologies and practices can promote inclusive development through reducing the domestic workload and freeing up time to perform productive tasks, as well as participating in decision-making processes and development opportunities.
The Chief Scientific Officer Reiterates that the ministry is committed to promoting accessibility to labour saving technologies as it saves time and energy which is of great importance to rural women leading to improved health and productivity adding that This will also contribute to improved health and well-being of households, especially children thereby eradicating hunger and malnutrition.
She therefore implore all stakeholders to take full advantage of this programme to utilize the knowledge gained at this workshop for improved quality of life, assured the women that the Ministry is committed to the successful execution of the programme to promote and deploy labour saving technologies and to improve the quality of lives of Nigerian Women, their ability to cater for their households and reduce malnutrition in the country.
Earlier in her welcome address, the kaduna state commissioner Ministry of Human Services and Social Development hajiya Salisu Rabi said the program was aimed at reducing the present situation in the country.
She explained that the project had a core objective of enhancing the capacity of the Nigerian skills development system to produce relevant skills for vulnerable women throughout the 36 state of the country.
The commissioner said project was aimed at assisting the women to improve their current skills and develop new skills in order for them to be independent.
She said the training workshop will stimulate the women with skills to impact critical and creative thinking in the briquetting technology and that the government will continue to alleviate the suffering of the rural areas.
She expressed her appreciation to the Federal Ministry of Innovation, science and technology for the training workshop and the distribution of briquette stoves to the vunuarable women because of the positive impact on the women, urging all the women who have gone through the training not to disappoint her and the federal ministry of Innovation, science and technology, but to make them proud, so that many more people can also benefit from their programmes.”
Our Correspondent reports that the event which was attended by women from the three senatorial zone in the state, featured presentations by staffs of the federal ministry of Innovation, Science and Technology, distribution of briquette stoves, among others.
