The Nigeria Women for Agricultural Progress (NWAP) have lamented the continued exclusion of women from major government interventions.
NWAP stated that women farmers have yet to benefit from over N15 trillion interventions in the agricultural sector from 1999 till date.
The National Coordinator of NWAP, Omolara Swenson, while speaking at the ‘Women in Agriculture and Agribusiness Convention’ in Abuja, said many women farmers collect loans to buy farm inputs, but unfortunately, most of them are unable to pay back, decrying the activities of ‘portfolio’ farmers in the country.
According to her, “from 1999 till date, the federal government has spent over N15-20 trillion on interventions in the agricultural sector, but unfortunately, many known farmers have not been able to benefit from it.
“To our President, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, and the First Lady, Senator Oluremi Tinubu, Ministers of Agriculture and Women Affairs, we want them to look at agriculture the same way.
We don’t need to say women are the custodians of agriculture; we want the President to ask one question: all this while that they have been giving interventions to the men, why is it that our food output is reducing year by year but the money they are giving is increasing every year?
“As of today, with your money in hand, you can’t get 20 trailer loads of maize from the 6 states in the southwest. It’s not because there are no land or farmers to cultivate, but the disconnect from the so-called government intervention and the real farmers is large.”
Furthermore, Swenson blamed the ugly trend on the lack of unity among women farmers, as everyone of us belongs to one farmers’ association or another, which is what has been done for ages, so the government has been using divide and rule.
The NWAP National Coordinator emphasized the need for women farmers to unite themselves.
“We all must come together and speak with one voice. I am proud of women because when we put our minds to do something, we do it better than men. If we decide to come together with one voice, we can achieve it.
“We are using this medium to plead with the President to work directly with women farmers. It can be done; the government can work directly with us without going through intermediaries, and as that is done, the Nigerian economy can be revived through agriculture,” she said.
Mrs. Enitan Ontiri, the Coordinator of NWAP, South West region, in her remarks, further lamented the frustrations of women farmers in the region.
She noted that their aim was to kickstart a redefined, redesigned sustainable process, programs, procedures for uncommon progress among Nigerian women farmers.