The federal government has reaffirmed its commitment to supporting women farmers in Kwara in order to achieve food security in the state.
The director, Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security in Kwara, Faith Agu, made the pledge when he received members of the Small-Scale Women Farmers Organisation of Nigeria (SWOFON) and the Budget Committee Group (BCG) on an advocacy visit.
Ms Agu said the ministry was ready to provide women farmers the opportunity to benefit from empowerment programmes and different government support aids to farmers.
She said she was aware of some inputs distributed to SWOFON members in some states and called on Kwara members to be patient.
Ms Agu also said subsequent programmes of the ministry would involve the community of persons with disabilities for inclusivity.
Earlier, in a remark, Abdurrahman Ayuba, coordinator of the Scaling Up Public Investment in Agriculture (SUPIA) project under ActionAid, regretted that women are often sidelined in agricultural planning and support.
He appreciated past interventions from the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and called for more targeted efforts.
He stated that efforts were needed, particularly in areas such as climate-resilient agriculture, irrigation technology for dry-season farming, and strategies to reduce post-harvest losses through improved processing and storage facilities.
At the Kwara State Livestock Productivity and Resilience Support Project (L-PRES), the team was received by Aminah Jidah, the project administrative officer, who pledged the state government’s support for livestock rearing and production in the state.
Ms Jidah said the project was ready to support women farmers involved in livestock production, as well as tutor those interested in venturing into it.
She also said that L-PRES engages in periodic training to keep farmers up to date on developments in the livestock world and prioritises women farmers.
Ms Jidah said the 30 per cent allocated to women farmers during their periodic trainings was a testament to their gender-balanced programmes.
She urged the women farmers to always approach L-PRES whenever they needed increased productivity.
Earlier, the SWOFON coordinator in Kwara, Modupe Suleiman, called for targeted support to meet the farming needs of women farmers.
The BCG, comprising 12 organisations under the SUPIA project, conducts annual budget reviews to advocate for inclusive agricultural financing in Kwara.
