The Small Scale Women Farmers Organisation in Nigeria (SWOFON) has expressed concern that food prices may go higher in 2025 if challenges facing farmers are not accorded due attention.
The farmers spoke on Wednesday in Abuja at the SWOFON FCT State Level Interactive Forum to commemorate the International Day of Rural Women and World Food Day.
World Food Day, an International Day marked annually on Oct. 16, is to commemorate the founding of the United Nations Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO) in 1945.
The theme for 2024 is “Right to Food for a Better Life and a Better Future.’’
The forum was organised by SWOFON in collaboration with ActionAid Nigeria under the Scaling Up Public Investment in Agriculture (SUPIA) project.
Some of the challenges listed by the farmers are insecurity, farmers-herders conflicts, lack of access to credit facilities, land, irrigation facilities, post-harvest losses, and mechanisation, among others.
The Coordinator of SWOFON, FCT Chapter, Mrs Comfort Sunday, said the World Food Day celebration meant having abundant food on the table.
She said that at the moment, the reverse was the case as the larger population of the country could not afford a meal daily.
Sunday, who identified smallholder women farmers as key in ensuring food and nutrition security in the country, said that their needs were not often given the needed attention.
According to her, the farmers are faced with challenges of land grabbing, ownership, theft and extension services.
“The major problem we are having is the issue of land.
“To ensure the country is food security government should provide land for women farmers as well as security of farms and farmers,’’ she said.
Also, the Secretary FCT SWOFON, Mrs Mercy Nnnana, suggested that the declaration of the state of emergency on food by the Federal Government should be backed up by actions by prioritising lingering challenges in the food system.
“Declaration of emergency on food security is a good ideology but we are crying of food shortage and huge post-harvest losses at the moment; the only way to address food shortage is to stop huge post-harvest losses.
“There should be massive investment focusing on tackling post-harvest losses through the provision of processing facilities, storage facilities, training and market access, “she said.
She frowned at the negligence of rural farmers on issues regarding food security, describing the segment of the society as contributing 60 per cent to 75 per cent of the nation’s food production.
Nnnana, who identified challenges confronting the rural farmers as a knowledge gap, urged the government to bridge such gap.
The SWOFON member, Bwari Area Council, Dr Princess Tochukwu, appealed for the review of the Land Use Act at the Local Government level to enable smallholder women farmers to have free access to land and boost production.
Tochukwu urged the government to match its commitment regarding food security with actions; adding that often time commitments were made without necessary actions.
Mrs Olabisi Ogedengbe, SWOFON Coordinator, Gwagwalada, urged the FCT administration to declare a state of emergency on insecurity preventing women farmers from accessing their farms.
She appealed to the government to provide women farmers with improved farming equipment such as pumps, solar boreholes, Nafak sprayers, and silos, among others.
SUPIA Project Lead, Chika Orji said the event afforded smallholder farmers the opportunity to interact with state actors and critical stakeholders within the agriculture sector and other relevant sectors on their key challenges.
Orji said it also afforded them opportunities to demand for actions towards addressing the challenges for increased food production and realisation of the right to food and food security in the FCT.
NAN
