Dimapur, August 25 (MExN): State Agricultural Management and Extension Training Institute (SAMETI) organised two-day training on ‘Mainstreaming gender and women empowerment for Agriculture development’ for Agricultural Technology Management Agency (ATMA) functionaries at SAMETI, Medziphema from August 23–24.
A press release from Director SAMETI informed that the training was aimed at sensitising extension agents working at the grassroots level on gender issues and also about the important role women play in society in general and agriculture in particular.
Resource persons for the training were Dr. KK Jha, Professor & Head and Dr. J Longkumer, Professor from the Department of Agricultural Extension, NU: SASRD Medziphema campus; A Sungjemkala Lemtur, Master trainer from the Department of Women Resource Development, Kohima; and Dr. I Amenla, Director SAMETI & Principal IETC. They covered topics such as Need for gender sensitization, Entrepreneurship development among rural women, Mobilization of women resources, Role of women in agriculture, SHG – An approach for eliminating poverty through women empowerment, and Nagaland state draft policy for empowerment of women-2013. Practical exercise on all the topics was conducted.
The valedictory function was chaired by Vikaho Chophi, DPD SAMETI, while feedback on the training was given by Block Technology Managers (BTMs) of Kohima and Phek districts.
Director SAMETI Dr. I Amenla in her valedictory address spoke about the importance of starting gender sensitization at the home front, where there should be no disparity in the field of education and decision making between the girl and boy child. She also gave a brief overview of some important schemes for women operating at both the national and regional levels.
“Men ought to be sensitised as much as women about gender issues so as to become more sensitive to such issues, while women need to break out of traditional stronghold and work towards empowering themselves in different fields,” she concluded.
Certificates were distributed to the participants by Dr. Watimongla Jamir, Vice-Principal and academic in charge IETC, while vote of thanks was proposed by Dr. Ithika C Swu, DPD SAMETI.
