Small Scale Women Farmers Organization in Nigeria (SWOFON), Kwara chapter, has lamented alleged marginalization and lack of support from the government to improve their productivity.
Speaking during a stakeholders’ interactive forum with a government ministry, department, and agencies (MDAs) on the state agricultural sector in Ilorin, the state coordinator for SWOFON, Mrs. Bosede Toyin-Anifowose, said that women farmers are not getting enough government support to encourage women practicing agriculture in the state.
She said SWOFON needed inputs, land, and other resources to support their efforts, adding that “We have been neglected. All attention has been on men farmers. We need more support from the government to boost our morals.
“We need land for cluster farming, we need agricultural inputs. We deserve an interest-free loan to support our agricultural business.
“Give us grants and see how we will exceed your expectations. We have what it takes to produce enough food to feed Kwarans and the nation,” she said.
The SWOFON state coordinator, who said that politicians hijacked most of the little grants apportioned to women farmers in the state, added that most fertilisers and other benefits meant for SWOFON are mostly hijacked by politicians, depriving members access to their rights.
She, however, advised the government not to merge farmers’ grants with politicians’ grants, saying that farmers were being cheated.
Also speaking, the Director Kwara State Ministry of Women Affairs, Alhaja Medinat Idris, advised SWOFON to write a letter through the Head of Service to request for monthly display of their farm produce to members of the public.
She encouraged women farmers to revive the mini-market display strategy at the Ministry of Women’s Affairs as it had been done in the past.
“Be practical in your approach. Display your farm produce monthly at the Ministry premises and win the government’s attention. They will feel your impact and support whatever project you crave for,” she said.
The organizer of the forum and Executive Director Center for Community Empowerment and Poverty Eradication (CCEPE), Mr. Abdurrahman Akindele-Ayuba, said that the interactive forum was organized for agricultural stakeholders to engage and interact on a way forward for farmers in the state.
Ayuba, who said that the programme was designed to get support for small scale women farmers, added that “We want to get what the government policies, programmes, and interventions have in place for women farmers in Kwara state.
“As farmers, the government owes us some responsibilities to ensure that we live a good life and also to ensure we succeed in the trade we have chosen.
“We have one coordinator each present here today, a representative from the 16 Local governments in Kwara. They are selected to take the message to their people,” he said.
Ayuba, who is also the Coordinator of Scale Up Public Investment in Agriculture (SUPIA), said that the aim is to set a joint agenda to take their complaints to the government.
He added that through Action Aid Initiative, they were able to support women farmers across the state.
Mr Yakub Abdulwahab, a representative of the Kwara Ministry of Agric/Rural Development, commended the effort of the NGO to ensure women farmers were given the recognition they deserved.
Abdulwahab assured that the Ministry of Agriculture would continue to support SWOFON in the state.
Mrs. Funmilayo Lawal, a coordinator of Ilorin East LG, also advised the government to provide good roads to help them move their farm produce to the market.
She also called for more funding and agric incentives to improve their output.
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