NANFeatures/Vol.13/2019 (May 28)
Women farmers set for zero hunger programme
A News Analysis by Kudirat Musa, News Agency of Nigeria (NAN)
On the platform of Small-scale Women Farmers Organisation in Nigeria as a coalition, women across the country say they will support Federal Government’s efforts at ending hunger by 2030.
Supported by ActionAid Nigeria, the coalition has, therefore, been supporting women farmers, especially those in rural areas to stimulate rural village economic development and increase food production.
In capacity building, the coalition encourages smallholder women farmers to demand for their rights and privilege and serve as vocal, visible pressure group on behalf of smallholder women farmers in Nigeria.
Mrs Olaleye James, the spokesperson of the coalition, says Nigeria’s zero hunger-target by 2030 can only be achieved when the Federal Government supports small-scale farmers to boost their productivity.
She recalls that the Malabo Declaration on Accelerated Agricultural Growth and Transformation for Shared Prosperity and Improved Livelihoods was adopted by African Union (AU) Heads of State and Government in 2014 at the AU Assembly held in Malabo, Equatorial Guinea.
According to her, the coalition is ready to support Federal Government’s efforts if there are enabling programmes to end hunger as targeted.
“There should be allocation of 10 per cent of the annual budget to the agriculture sector at the national and state levels to meet the expectations of the Malabo Declaration.
“Besides, government needs to review customary land laws to enable women to inherit land for the sustainability of their farming, while allocating land to smallholder women farmers’ cooperatives.
“We need easy access to credit at single-digit interest rate and the removal of those loan conditions that require collateral and guarantors. There is a compelling need to make credit schemes gender-friendly.
“We need to be included in decision-making processes in policy formulation and implementation; we need access to markets and regulated produce prices to boost our income and avoid post-harvest loss,’’ she requests.
According to her, any effort to empower women would certainly facilitate the country’s plans to achieve zero hunger by 2030.
She also requests for government’s direct dealing with farmers, noting that the Anchor Borrowers’ Programme should also be restructured to make it more farmer-friendly.
She says Nigeria’s efforts to achieve zero hunger will be successful if all stakeholders, including the government, are mobilised to play their respective roles in the programme.
Sharing similar sentiments, Mrs Mary Afan, National President, Small-scale Women Farmers Organisation in Nigeria, says the country can achieve self-sufficiency in food production and earn foreign currency on exportation if the governments support the coalition and ban Genetically Modified Crops (GMOs).
“We do not encourage our members to use GMO seeds because some of those seeds are not adapted to our environment.
“Although the seeds provide high yield but it would only make farmers to keep depending on GMO seeds, we will have to keep buying them.
“We are not comfortable with GMOs and we will not encourage farmers to go into such farming practice,’’ she explains.
She, however, advises that agricultural research institutes can provide improved seed varieties instead of GMOs.
“We are urging government at all level to provide certified seed, organic fertiliser, more extension workers and capacity building on good agronomy practices to improve our productivity so that the Zero Hunger target of 2030 can be achieved,’’ she pleads.
Similarly, Dr Mutiat Salami of the Federal College of Animal Health and Technology, Ibadan, observes that women empowerment in agriculture remains one of the major ways to fight hunger and malnutrition.
“Empowerment of women will help against household food insecurity and malnutrition as they are majorly in charge of child care and food preparation within the household.
“The patriarchy system in Africa has really make empowerment of women in agriculture difficult for example women have limited access to land compare to their male counterpart.
“Women always labour in family farms rather than own the farms, having limited control over production output among others,’’ she argues.
Mr Tunmise Olagbaju, a laboratory and livestock technical consultant recalls that issues on how to achieve zero hunger by 2030 is always central to the United Nations (UN) world food day observances.
“More people are becoming hungry year in year out; we consider family farming, youth in agriculture and involvement of more women in agriculture as way out.
“Definitely these three points will help improve agricultural productivity and sustainability and empowering women will go a long way,’’ he suggests.
But Mrs Mohammed Zainab, a farmer, said that one of the deterrents to food production is low or poor advocacy at different level of participations.
“We need to stand to the facts that Nigeria can be self-sufficient and can sustainably feed generations yet unborn if we harness the potential in agriculture.
“Women are closer to the children and such can use the idle time for meaningful agricultural activities, involving backyard gardening, small ruminants, poultry, rabbit production and food processing for home consumption, among others.
“Women can help the nation in achieving zero hunger by 2030 through special programmes that can make women involved in agriculture,’’ she observes.
Mrs Halima Njobdi, Director General, Let Us Give Agriculture Voice Cooperatives in Abuja, also notes that women have hope in the present administration because of different gender-friendly agricultural programmes.
“The smallholder farmers have been the major people farming to feed the nation and their family, they need to benefit more in any government intervention programmes.
“Women need tools to work; the women cannot continue farming in a primitive ways of using hoes and cutlasses.
“Some challenges facing the farmers need urgent attention; women have issues of security, land for farming, access to credit, inputs and irrigation facilities, among others,’’ she says.
She pleaded with the Federal Government to always target the real farmers by getting agriculture from the grassroots involved and “not from top to bottom.
“This will help in carry everybody along irrespective of their tribe or religious because they are in the custodian of the rural dwellers and they can identify who a real farmer is.(NANFeatures)
**If used, please credit the writer as well as News Agency of Nigeria (NAN)