The Small-Scale Women Farmers Organisation in Nigeria (SWOFON), Oyo State chapter, has urged the state government to ensure that approved agricultural budgets translate into tangible support for smallholder women farmers.
Tinuke Akinbade, the state coordinator of SWOFON, made the appeal at a news conference in Ibadan on Wednesday.
Akinbade said evidence from the IBP-SWOFON SPARK II Policy Brief revealed a gap between the state’s budgetary processes and the actual delivery of agricultural investments to women farmers.
She said allocations to agriculture in Oyo’s budget between 2021 and 2025 never exceeded 4.31 per cent, while execution of the agricultural capital budget averaged 17.5 per cent.
According to her, the performance represented the weakest among the five states assessed under the programme.
Akinbade said women farmers had actively participated in budget processes and developed a 10-point Charter of Demands, but their priorities had not translated into corresponding budget allocations and implementation.
“Receiving women farmers’ demands is not enough.
“The government must demonstrate how those demands are reflected in budget lines, how much is allocated, when funds are released and what is ultimately delivered to farmers,” she said.
The SWOFON coordinator called for increased and protected investment in agriculture, as well as the timely release and implementation of approved capital budgets.
She also urged the government to convert three to five priority demands of women farmers each year into costed and traceable budget commitments.
Akinbade further called for the institutionalisation of women farmers’ participation in agricultural planning and budgeting at the state and local government levels.
“We urge the government to improve women farmers’ access to secure land, particularly in view of customary inheritance and tenure barriers.
“Also, we want publication of information on agricultural allocations, releases, expenditure, procurement, physical delivery and beneficiaries to enable farmers and other citizens to track implementation,” she said.
She also advocated increased investment in extension services, irrigation, storage, processing, transportation, aggregation and reliable markets.
According to her, production support without corresponding access to markets could limit the economic returns of farmers.
Akinbade urged the state government, House of Assembly, relevant ministries, departments and agencies, local government councils and development partners to work with women farmers to bridge the gap between budget approval and actual delivery.
