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For almost a century, International Women’s Day has been an occasion for women around the world not only to lobby for equal rights, but also to look back to see how far they have come with their struggle for equality.
FAO, recognizing women’s key role in agriculture and rural development, commemorates International Women’s Day. This year, among the powerful examples of women’s valuable contribution towards eliminating hunger and contributing to economic, political and social advancement, we looked at the role of women in Nigeria, Africa’s most populous country.

Iyagu sits in a rehabilitated old church building as the afternoon sunlight streams through the open windows. He is 12 years old and speaks in hushed tones. Gradually, he feels more comfortable and begins to recount his horrifying experiences as a child domestic worker.

In Nigeria, the road to the Millennium Development Goals is a holistic journey. Whether working towards reducing child mortality, improving maternal health, combating HIV/AIDS, malaria and guinea worm, or ensuring environmental stability, the water and sanitation sector is a key ingredient. This is most evident in UNICEF’s efforts to promote girls’ education.

Model Primary School, New Owerri, Nigeria, is a bold testimony that initiatives to make schools child-friendly can succeed. Before 2000, it was just another neglected primary school, with buildings in various states of dilapidation and a school population not very different from those of schools in similar conditions.

Hajia Hindatu Musa, a 60 year-old female farmer from a small village in northern Nigeria, has been in the business of farming for more than 36 years, growing sorghum, millet, groundnut and local cowpea. In most years, it has been a struggle to meet the basic needs of her family. In years in which rainfall is limited, some crops may fail, and the household will not have sufficient food to last until the next harvest.

Members of the Cassava Processors' Cooperative Society (CPCS) used to employ very time-consuming and simple procedures to process their cassava into edible products: wrapping the cassava in sacks and putting the sacks under heavy rocks.