Chinyere Anyanwu, [email protected]
Despite the massive contribution of Nigerian women in the development of the nation’s agricultural value chain, the Federal Government as well as other agencies responsible the development of the sector are yet to accord priority attention to them.
For this reason, efforts to create an enabling environment to boost women’s effort in agriculture have often been diverted to political farmers who merely target government’s intervention funds without contributing much to the nation’s food basket.
But agricultural management experts have urged the government to create an enabling environment to ensure that the contributions of women to Nigeria’s agriculture are further enhanced because of its multiplier benefits’
According to a 1988 World Bank Report, “women in Africa (including Nigeria) are integral participants to the success of the agriculture sector. We know that African women provide 60-90 per cent of subsistence agricultural labour; dominate food production with labour contributions of 50-85 per cent of total agricultural labour; engage in a high percentage of cash crop labour, thereby generating household income for food purchases,” among others.
In addition, the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development in 2008, stated that, “women account for 75 per cent of the farming population in Nigeria, working as farm managers, and suppliers of labour.”
With these in view, women’s place in the continent’s and the country’s agricultural space is of utmost importance and requires deliberate and urgent moves to ensure sustainability.
Among challenges militating against women in agriculture realising their full potential and delivering their best for the sector’s growth, include inadequate inputs, lack of technological knowhow, high rate of illiteracy, lack of means of implementation, inadequate finances, lack of land ownership rights for women and gender inequality. Others are poor access to information and training, religious and cultural belief.
To tackle these challenges and position the woman farmer for utmost performance of her agricultural activities unhindered, empowering her economically cannot be overemphasised. According to stakeholders, government and commercial banks should provide agricultural credit facilities and loans that will take into cognizance the peculiar nature of women in terms of collateral demands.
There is also the need to educationally empower them through government and NGOs’ scholarship programmes as far as agricultural production is concerned. Also, awareness should be created to rural women on how they can impact positively on the economy through agricultural production.
Government, in addition, should collaborate with traditional rulers and other stakeholders across the country to ensure that all harmful and traditional practices, which target only women, especially the rights of land ownership, are uprooted.
There should equally be proper training of rural women on the use of farm inputs and machines for fast work and higher yield.
Chronicling some of the achievements of female farmers in the country, the CEO of Ope Farms, an Ogun State-based farm, Ms Olusola Sowemimo, herself an accomplished farmer, is excited and upbeat about the level of development women farmers are bringing to the sector.
Ms Sowemimo, in a recent chat with Daily Sun, said, “women are doing a lot but because we don’t have records, we are not putting ourselves in groups that are formidable; we are just growing. It’s just about now that we are breaking forth and coming out in associations and cooperatives and honestly, I speak out for all women who are in farming. We are doing amazing things.”
On making access to funds easy for women farmers, she said, “I like the fact that the government is trying to help with loans but I would want the interest rate to still be better; I think right now the best we have is 9 per cent. For me, anything more than 5 per cent is too much.”
She further said: “You will be surprised if I tell you that we now have groups like Women In Agriculture (WIA) and it is the formation of such groups that is opening my eyes to the fact that women are doing incredibly in agriculture. We are mothers in the homes so we have every right to be at the forefront of what our families eat.”
She explained: “I’ve had people who would call me and say, ah, you are a woman? And it happens all the time. A man once booked an appointment to meet me on my farm and when he saw me, he said to me, ‘eh, you mean a woman can have this kind of farm?’ And I looked at him and said, ‘you should know that whatever a woman does, she does it with her heart and wants to achieve’.”
She stressed that women are doing a lot but just need the right facilities to be put in place to showcase them more, adding that, “women working together means endless possibilities.”
Expressing her thoughts on the progress and impact of women in the growth of agriculture in Nigeria, the President of Unique Women in Agricultural Cluster Initiative, Bridget Okonofua, stated that women, on a scale of 100, could be rated 70 per cent.
She said, “we have gone that far because a lot of women have gone into agriculture these days and it’s really interesting; you won’t believe how women have come of age in terms of agriculture.”
Okonofua, however, lamented the difficulties experienced by women in accessing funds for agricultural production. She stated that, “it is difficult for women to get access to finance in agriculture. Even though there are a lot of programmes now for women, it’s still difficult because if you hear women complain, then you will know what I’m talking about.”
Pointing out measures that can taken to attract more women into agriculture, especially on a larger scale, Okonofua said government and the private sector should come out with more incentives for women in agriculture.
She noted: “They (government and private sector) are doing great presently but they need to do better. I know there are grants and reduced interest rate for women, but I think they should do more. They need to avail women more land to do agriculture. Land is so difficult for women to get. There are cultures that deny women access to land, which I think should be abolished.”