Nigeria: Women Ministry to Create More Jobs With Moringa Plant

Ojoma Akor

Plans are underway by the Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Development in partnership with a government agency, National Medicinal Plants Development Company (NMPDC) to maximize the potentials of a medicinal plant, Moringa, in creating jobs and stepping down maternal and child mortality in the country.

A statement from the ministry signed by the Assistant Director Press and Publications, Mr. Saghir el-Mohammed, said the ministry will partner the agency to mobilize and sensitize the over 72 percent of women in the country, especially rural farmers amongst them, to cultivate and process the plant and other 8,000 species of medicinal plants, to provide health, nutrition and economic empowerment for them.

Speaking when a delegation of the NMPDC paid her a visit, Minister of Women Affairs and Social Development, Hajiya Zainab Maina said Nigeria is a country blessed with abundant human and natural resources which are yet to be fully tapped.

She commended the Federal Government for creating the National Medicinal Plants Development Company, which she noted, would ensure that the benefits of herbs in the country are fully exploited.

The Managing Director of NMPDC, Hajiya Zainab Shariff, said the organization plans to harness the potentials of Nigerian medicinal plants for health, nutritional and socio-economic benefit of Nigerians and the people of other countries.

"It also seeks to improve the health indices of the country through the integration of herbal medicine into the maternal healthcare delivery system," she said.

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