By Esther Akaa, Lafia
The Small Scale Women Farmers Organisation in Nigeria (SWOFON) has advocated for a more inclusive budgeting process that takes into account the needs and challenges of women farmers in Nasarawa State.
The Programme Manager of SWOFON, Ogechi Okebugwu, made the call on Friday during a 2-day stakeholders’ engagement meeting in Lafia.
Okebugwu, who emphasized that women farmers have been marginalized in the budgeting process for too long, called on the government at all levels to provide support for women-led agricultural initiatives.
According to her, to address food insecurity and reduce poverty in the country, the government must address the systemic barriers that prevent women from accessing resources and opportunities.
“All we want from the government is that the government should make its budget an inclusive process, that the women can come into the same space and talk about their challenges and also make their demands known to the government, because issues around food insecurity are actually high right now.
“There is no proper strategy in place to help curb what we are currently facing. It’s actually affecting everybody, irrespective of who you are; therefore, this is an opportunity, a platform where we engage with our stakeholders, especially the government officials, to say this is what the women are going through and proffer solutions.
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“Also, issues around the timely release of farm inputs have also been a challenge as well. What kind of measures are the government putting in place so that the women can access agricultural inputs timely enough before the rains start?” she added.
She, therefore, appealed to the government to provide them with the opportunity to engage, provide timely information on agricultural programs in the state, and give them access to agri-inputs at the appropriate time in order to boost food production.
Also speaking, lead facilitator at the meeting, Sundayson Chidi, while speaking on the topic “Engaging for Systems Change in the Agricultural Sector, lauded the Nasarawa State government for increasing its allocation to agriculture in the 2025 budget.
According to him, the allocation has risen to 6.4% of the total budget, a development he said would enable women farmers in the state to produce more if the budget is fully implemented.
He urged the government to prioritize the needs of women farmers and invest in initiatives that will help them increase their productivity and earnings.
Chidi noted that more needs to be done to support women farmers, including providing access to gender-friendly equipment and storage facilities as well as linking them with research institutions and providing training on new technologies and farming practices.
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He therefore called on the women farmers to follow up on the budget and ensure its full implementation, saying, “Farmers have to create demands, make requests from the government, and publicize their demands to enable the government to implement them.”.
On her part, the state coordinator of SWOFON, Jummai Yohana, emphasized the importance of government support in accessing farm inputs, such as seeds, fertilizers, and farm equipment.
“Women farmers are always in need of farm inputs, but we often miss out on these essential resources due to lack of inclusion in the government’s disbursement process.
“We farm what we eat, and we eat from what we farm. If we don’t receive support and resources to boost our farming, we will continue to struggle, and our productivity will suffer,” Yohana said.
She called on the government to include small-scale farmers in the preparation and disbursement of farm inputs, ensuring that they receive the support they need to succeed.
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Speaking separately, Permanent Secretary, Nasarawa State Ministry of Finance, Budget and Planning, Polinus Wahe, represented by the Deputy Director Budget, Ezekiel Achiaku, and Programme Manager, Nasarawa Agricultural Development Programme (NADP), Umar Nuhu, both promised government partnership with the association to ensure food security.
They said that Governor Abdullahi Sule was making frantic efforts to ensure that farmers in the state get farm inputs and implements at subsidized rates to boost agricultural production.
The meeting was attended by stakeholders from government ministries, civil society organizations, academia, women farmers, and the media.