Women farmers canvass increased funding for small holders farmers

From: Rose Ejembi, Makurd

Bothered by the sky-rocket prices of food in the country, the Nigerian Association of Women in Agriculture (NAWIA), has called for increased funding for small holder farmers in order to scale up food production and also check scarcity of food in the country.

National President of NAWIA, Mrs. Ngizan Chahul, made the call, on Tuesday, at a one capacity building training for small scale farmers, organized by Voice for Food Security (VFS), in partnership with NAWIA and Human and Environmental Development Agenda (HEDA), in Makurdi, Benue State capital.

Chahul explained that the strategy had been adopted in several countries that had attained sufficiency in food production and urged governments at all levels in the country to also key into the strategy.

She noted that “food security and climate change posed severe threats to attaining the objectives of the Sustainable Development Goals, SDGs hence the urged need  for a holistic approach to tackling the challenge.

“We therefore call on governments at all levels to take appropriate measures in terms of policy formulation and implementation to address the nagging issues of food security, climate change and support small scale farmers especially women and youth who constitute a large chunk of Nigeria’s farming populace.”

She lamented the huge expenditure the country incurred annually from food imports despite the vast arable land and available human resources the country was blessed with.

Mrs. Chahul further advocated for a legislation on the right to food “as a major component of Food and Climate Justice.”