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Group advocates adequate investments to tackle post-harvest losses, insecurity, others

A Non-Governmental Organisation under the auspices of Smallscale Women Farmers Organisation has called for massive investment focusing on tracking post-harvest losses, climate change and farmers-herders crisis across the country.

The SWOFON National President, Mrs Mary Afan, made the call in a communique issued at the end of the National Advocacy Forum of the organisation organised by ActionAids in Abuja, on Tuesday.

Afan noted that such measure would savage the nation from the current imminent food crisis bedeviling the country.

She observed that based on the Cadre Harmonise (CH) Report of March 2021, about 12.8 million people in northern states were currently faced with food and nutrition insecurity  due to climate change, insecurity and farmers-herders crisis as well as COVID-19 pandemic.

The states are Adamawa, Bauchi, Benue, Borno, Gombe, Jigawa, Kaduna, Kano, Katsina, Kebbi, Niger, Plateau, Taraba, Sokoto, Yobe, Zamfara and the FCT.

According to her, apart from the 16 states other states are also faced with food and nutrition insecurity due to similar factors above while food and nutrition insecurity is further exacerbated across Nigeria through post-harvest losses of about N3.5 trillion annually.

“Humanitarian and food voucher interventions should be carried out across Nigeria while massive investments should focus on tracking post-harvest losses, climate change, insecurity and farmers-herders clashes to bring us out of this situation,’’ she said.

Afan commended the Federal Ministry of Agriculture for the development of the National Gender Policy in Agriculture and for constituting and inclusion of SWOFON in the policy’s steering committee for the implementation in the sector.

According to her, such gesture is in a bid to offer equal access and gender-sensitive approach towards food production.

The organisation called on states government to create budget lines to fund the implementation of the National Gender Policy in Agriculture.

The president noted that implementing the policy, SWOFON should be included the annual training of the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (FMARD), State Ministries of Agriculture, financial institutions and development partners captured in the policy.

“Female extension agents should be recruited by the state ministries of agriculture to fill the large gender gap in extension services and the farmers and extension agent’s ratio.

“Gender units at federal and states in collaboration with relevant agencies should train smallholder women farmers on climate change mitigation and adaptation strategies.

“Federal and state governments should specially design capacity development programmes to improve the capacity of SWOFON on mitigation and adaptation strategies against climate change and provide access to organic fertilisers and organic control of pest.

“Gender unit of FMARD should establish new mechanism and indicators for data collection which should be gender sensitive especially reflecting the concerns of smallholder women farmers.

“ Governments should ensure gender equity through periodic impact analysis of all agricultural policies, programmes, projects and activities on smallholder women farmers.

”Governments should support smallholder women farmers with training on nutrition sensitive agriculture at the household level,’’ she said.

Afan noted that SWOFON advocacy forum provide an avenue for smallholder women farmers to interact with duty bearers and key stakeholders/donors in the agriculture sector on participation and involvement of smallholder women farmers in agriculture policies and programme.

According to her, it also provide for accountability by SWOFON executives to the organisation’s board of trustees and the general assembly. (NAN)

Monday Ashibogwu

Monday Michaels Ashibogwu is Editor-In-Chief of QUICK NEWS AFRICA, one of Nigeria's leading online news service.

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