Women farmers in Gombe urge govt on post-harvest losses reduction
Small Scale Women Farmers Organisation in Nigeria (SWOFON), Gombe state chapter has called on the state government to invest towards tackling post-harvest losses often encountered by its members across the state.
Esther George, the Financial Secretary of the association made this known while presenting the women’s demands to the state government on the occasion of their annual Women Farmers’ Forum held on Wednesday in Gombe.
The meeting which is organised by Hope Foundation for the Lonely is sponsored by ActionAid Nigeria.
According to George, women constitute the largest farming population in the state and are involved in the whole value chain in agriculture.
She stated that massive investments should be focused on cutting down post-harvest losses through the provision of processing and storage facilities, training for women and market access.
She said doing that would help improve the living standards of women farmers, especially in rural communities while boosting their incomes.
She stated that SWOFON members in rural areas do not get adequate extension services to help them in the farming vocation, hence urging the state government to recruit more female extension officers to engage rural women.
“This year, many of our members lost their rice farms to floods in Shongom and Billiri; about 20 of them.
“If these women had been given the right extension services through the provision of information on good agricultural practices, they would have been informed to know what to plant and where to plant.”
George stated that the state government needed to support SWOFON to ensure the implementation of the National Gender Policy in Agriculture in the state.
“ The Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development in consultation with Smallholder women farmers and Civil Society Organizations produced the first National Gender Policy on Agriculture in Nigeria which was launched in 2019.”
According to her, the policy would help strengthen women participation in farming and boost food security in the country.
On the budgetary allocation for small-scale women farmers, the association appealed to the state government to release its N65 million two-year budget to assist women farmers in the state.
In his response, the representative of Gov Inuwa Yahaya of Gombe state at the meeting, Dr Ishiaku Mohammed, the governor’s Special Adviser on Budget Planning and Donor Coordination assured the women farmers of the government’s support.
“The demands are taken and duly noted; we will continue to engage to ensure we are able to meet the demands,” he stated.
Muhammad Magaji Gettado, the state’s commissioner of Agriculture and Animal Husbandry assured SWOFON that budgeted allocation for their activities would be pursued to ensure the release of the funds.
Gettado, represented by Dr Ibrahim Yakubu, the Director of Planning, Research and Statistics, at the Ministry said the government was working to improve the agriculture sector in the state.
The highlight of the event was the presentation of the women’s farmers demands to the state government and other relevant stakeholders to be used as part of inputs for the preparation of the state’s 2022 budget.
