By Tobias Lengnan Dapam
Worried by the dangers of flood and the rising food insecurity in the country, Smallholder Women Farmers Organisation in Nigeria (SWOFON) has called on federal and state government to urgently begin the distribution of improved
seeds and seedlings to its members for dry season/irrigation farming so as to cushion the losses made during the wet season farming.
Speaking on Thursday, during a media briefing in Abuja, National President of SWOFON, Mary Afan said, the dry season farming will help to augment the losses to the flood and ensure stability in the availability and price of food.
“Farmers were unable to plant because all stored seeds were ruined by the floods. Our farmers will be able to return to the land and produce food before the wet season if seeds and seedlings are available.
“The federal and state government should swiftly procure farm inputs and equipment especially fertilizers and water pumps which will be distributed to our farmers for the dry season farming season. The current cost of fertilizers is too expensive for farmers who have lost everything.”
She said making fertilizers available and in a timely manner will demonstrate the commitment of the government in ensuring that food is available for Nigerians.
“We also want procurement of gender friendly equipment,
farm implements and water pumps for irrigation to increase farmer’s efficiency on their farms.
“The federal and state governments should create an intervention fund aimed at cushioning the suffering of women farmers. The distribution of the fund should be carefully and intentionally targeted at small scale women farmers nationwide. Many farmers are currently battling to make ends
meet. An intervention fund will exhibit sympathy for farmers, show support for their livelihood, and lessen
the stress of starting-over, not forgetting also that women farmers have children to care for.”
She also called for waiver on all agricultural loans and debts owed during the wet season farming.
“We think that by doing this, the farmers’ morale would be raised and they will be more motivated to start cultivating in the dry season immediately.
“In the medium to long term, SWOFON calls on the federal and state governments to recruit and train extension officers to be deployed across the local government areas so as to
provide timely and customized extension service for women farmers.
“To organize workshops and training sessions for women farmers on climate resilient agricultural practices and adaptation strategies.
“The federal government should prioritize agriculture in the 2023 budget and increase allocations to it (in the 2023 Appropriation Bill of the federal government, only about 1.11% of the total budget is
allocated to agriculture). The Malabo declaration targets 10 percent allocation from total budget allocation. This target should be the goal of every state budget for agriculture. Similarly, a monitoring and evaluation system should be put in place to monitor the execution of the agricultural budget so as to improve the performance of the agricultural budget, as well as targeting of smallholder women farmers.
“Early warning systems should be strengthened to alert farmers about impending natural disasters
such as flooding or drought. Farmers should be able to access weather and agro-climatical information on
radio and other mass communication devices.”
Also speaking, Emabong Akpan, Senior Programme Officer, International Budget Partnership, said the Strengthening Partnership for Accountability Result and Knowledge (SPARK) in 2018 by partnering local groups in the country.
“We were able to give them voice in areas of budget. Local groups are able to influence budget decisions and make their own imputes.
“We also build relationship with the in areas of Primary Health Care (PHCs) and agriculture. Many of them were able to apply for palliatives during COVID 19. We are happy with these partnerships and the results so far”.
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