SMALL SCALE
WOMEN FARMERS CRY AGAINST MARGINALIZATION BY GOVERNMENT
At a stakeholders meeting organized by the Action Aid of Nigeria today in Abuja, those of them present say the initiatives to boost food production by government has failed small scale farmers especially women.
Hajia Amina Jibrin from the Association of Small Scale Agro Producers in Nigeria (ASSAPIN) said the fertilizer available hardly reaches those of them in the rural areas, she adds that the fertilizer the government provides is supposed to be 2 bags; 1 bag of NPK and another bag of Urea but the suppliers refuse to supply Urea and instead supply the lucky ones among them 2 bags of NPK which is seemingly cheaper. Mrs Jibrin highlights other challenges like accessing the fertilizer, she said many farmers have to travel to the local government secretariats which are usually very far from the their villages and farms and many times cannot even get it.
She adds that the Growth Enhancement Scheme which uses mobile phones to reach the farmers also has its own challenges as many farmers are illiterate, do not and cannot operate mobile phones and there is no network access in many of the areas.
Also the Action Aid’s Tunde Aremu says a critical look at the 2014 agricultural budget does not consider this important set of farmers. Mr Aremu wants government to focus on women farmers as they form the bulk of small scale farmers and they are responsible for feeding the country.
He says current agricultural initiatives which many Nigerians are calling a success is focused on farmers who farm for export.
Mr Aremu also revealed that a critical look at the 2014 budget of the Ministry of Agric does make any special provision for rural women and the only provision made for them is training about 3,000 women around the country which is like a drop of water in the ocean.
He challenges the Federal Government to show commitment and mark their words with commitment.
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