The Police Officers’ Wives Association (POWA) has inaugurated the National Soil to Security Campaign Team (SSC), a nationally coordinated mobilisation mechanism to engage 12 million young Nigerian women in transformative agribusiness education.
The initiative, with active support from UNESCO REF Young Women in Agriculture (YWA), aims to support the current administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s efforts at ensuring food security in the country.
POWA National President and Wife of the Inspector General of Police, Dr. Elizabeth Egbetokun, inaugurated the national campaign team during the Police Officers’ Wives Association’s 61st anniversary celebration.
Mrs. Egbetokun, who doubles as the National Advocate for the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization’s Read and Earn Federation (UNESCO REF) Young Women in Agriculture (YWA) Initiative, disclosed that through the campaign, young women would break free from poverty by engaging in resilient, scalable agriculture that creates income, dignity, and national impact.
She explained that the SSC Team operates as the official outreach and mobilisation engine under the UNESCO REF Strategic Intervention Programme – ALPHA (SIP-ALPHA) Framework, designed to advance food security, promote climate-smart agriculture, and deliver inclusive socioeconomic empowerment across all regions of Nigeria.
“The initiative also serves as a strategic response to the Federal Government’s emergency declaration on food security made on July 13, 2023.
“Through this campaign, we are enabling young women to break free from poverty by engaging in resilient, scalable agriculture that creates income, dignity, and national impact,” Elizabeth Egbetokun said during the launch event.
Highlighting the strategic support and national alignment of the programme, the POWA President noted that the YWA Initiative and SSC Campaign would directly contribute to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s cardinal directive on food security and agribusiness transformation.
She said this also aligns with the Renewed Hope Initiative led by the First Lady, Senator Oluremi Tinubu, prioritising women’s empowerment and inclusive development, adding that it would also help in Nigeria’s advancement of the UN Sustainable Development Goals.
Speaking further on the programme framework, Egbetokun noted that the Young Women in Agriculture Initiative, launched through the SIP-ALPHA Category II Strategic Framework, offers alternative crop production models that overcome the limitations of conventional agriculture, such as hydroponics farming or soilless cultivation using nutrient-rich solutions.
She explained that the Soil to Security Campaign Team would serve as the official national mobilisation mechanism of the YWA Initiative.
“The team would be responsible for coordinating outreach across Nigeria’s six geopolitical zones, engaging young women (ages 18–35) through sensitisation, registration, and community activation, as well as promoting agritech awareness, inclusive market access, and scalable impact.
“The SSC Team is spearheaded by the POWA National President and supported by an array of government, institutional, and civil society partners including the Federal Ministry of Women Affairs, Office of the Senior Special Assistant to the President on SDGs and Food Security, UNESCO Commission Nigeria, Women Space USA, Mariam Babangida National Centre for Women Development, POWA National Secretariat, Obafemi Awolowo University – IAR&T Ibadan, international tertiary institutions, designated Kenaf processing factories, and local agribusiness networks, among several other relevant stakeholders.”
Expected Impact & Economic Outcomes
“The programme aims to achieve training and certification of 12 million YWA Champions by 2030; creation of sustainable agribusiness ecosystems led by women and youth; and expansion of domestic industrial inputs for packaging, textiles, and construction.
“It is also focused on the advancement of poverty eradication and hunger reduction goals, positioning Nigeria as a continental leader in gender-inclusive, climate-resilient agriculture,” Elizabeth Egbetokun stated.
For his part, the UNESCO REF President and National Coordinator, Young Women in Agriculture Nigeria, Prince Abdulsalami Ladigbolu-Oranmiyan, said, “The future of food is no longer buried beneath the soil; it is engineered through knowledge, equity, and innovation.”
He added that with the launch of the SSC Team, Nigeria demonstrates not only a commitment to sustainable agriculture but also to harnessing the transformative power of young women as architects of a resilient economy and peaceful society.
