A coalition under the aegis of the Small-Scale Women Farmers Organization of Nigeria (SWOFON) has urged federal, state, and local governments to allocate resources for the implementation of the National Gender Policy on Agriculture.
The National President of SWOFON, Fatima Bello, made the call at the 2023 National Agriculture Show “Youth and Women in Agriculture seminar on Friday in Nasarawa State.
The seminar has the theme “Enhancing the Capacity of Youth and Women towards Realizing the Presidential Declaration on Food Security Emergency in Nigeria.”
The SWOFON is a coalition of women farmers associations and groups across the country.
Bello recommended that the agriculture budgets of governments at all levels be gender-sensitive and responsive by providing items for the implementation of the policy.
She explained that the gender policy on agriculture addressed specific challenges that affected women farmers differently from men, as well as avoiding lumping up budgets for women farmers and youths.
The president called on all tiers of government to invest in agroecology to build the capacity of smallholder women farmers on climate change mitigation and adaptation strategies and make provision for organic inputs such as fertilizers and pest control.
Bello identified smallholder women farmers as accounting for 70 percent of the country’s agricultural workforce and contributing to 70 percent of food production.
She, however, said that in spite of their crucial role in the sector, it encountered significant challenges ranging from limited access to land, inputs, credit, training, storage and processing facilities, labor, saving technology, and post-harvest losses.
Other challenges, according to her, are insecurity, climate change, and a lack of access to agricultural insurance services.
“Federal and state ministries of agriculture should create a yearly budget line to strengthen access to credit, which should focus on getting consultants or consultancy firms to support women, youths, and farmers living with disability cooperatives.
“This will enable the farmers to navigate the cumbersome access to credit in the country.
“A consultancy firm will handhold the cooperatives to access existing CBN agricultural credit facilities through preparing their business proposals, interfacing with and negotiating with the Bank of Agriculture, the Bank of Industry, and other financial and microfinance banks.
“The firm will also ensure that the cooperatives access facilities and other services like insurance, extension, and market, and they are able to pay back at the end of each circle,” Bello said.
The president appealed to governments to address gender-based discrimination regarding access, control over land, and participation in land governance.
She recommended that federal and state ministries of agriculture organize town hall meetings with traditional and religious leaders, persuading them to give cooperative lands to smallholder farmers to increase their access and control for increased productivity.
