The Small-scale Women Farmers Organization of Nigeria (SWOFON) has appealed to all tiers of government to facilitate the availability and accessibility of farming lands specifically for smallholder women farmers cooperatives.
Mrs. Fatima Gunmi, National President of SWOFON, made the call in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Thursday in Abuja.
Gunmi said the gesture would enhance women’s chances of land ownership and control and boost food production.
The president said that the cost of leasing land for farming in most states has risen significantly from N20, 000 per hectare to N35, 000 and N40, 000.
She identified the increment as a major challenge in enhancing food production.
The president said that the increment represents a percentage increase of approximately 75 percent to 100 percent.
Gunmi identified labour-saving machinery and exorbitant prices of agricultural inputs like fertilisers, herbicides, and pesticides as factors diminishing agricultural productivity.
She urged the government to invest in gender-friendly and labour-saving machinery to increase the productivity of smallholder women farmers, who contribute 70 percent to 80 percent to agricultural productivity.
“There is an increase in both manual and mechanised labour costs that smallholder women farmers cannot afford.
“There should be timely releases of farm inputs to smallholder women farmers by the three tiers of government for this farming season,” she said.
Gunmi, who said the hike in fuel prices prevented women farmers from engaging in dry-season farming, said the situation would result in low dry-season productivity.
She, however, urged the government to support smallholder women farmers with irrigation farming systems, including the provision of solar-powered water pumps and solar-powered boreholes, to boost irrigation farming. (NAN)
