The Small Scale Women Farmers Organisation of Nigeria (SWOFON) has expressed optimism on the viability of the 2025 dry season farming despite the present climate change effects on agriculture.
The Oyo State Coordinator, SWOFON, Mrs Atinuke Akinbade, said this in an interview with newsmen on Saturday in Ibadan.
Akinbade decried the huge loss caused by irregular rainfall patterns during the onset of the 2025 rainy season.
“Despite the problems faced by farmers, including small scale women farmers, preparations towards the dry season farming have begun.
“Our planting ventures between April and May were all wasted due to cessation of rain. Infact, many farmers didn’t get any substantial or appreciable growth of the crops planted.
“It is now that plantations are starting to do well and we hope that the rains will continue to support all that we planted.
“The government should have started the distributions of seedlings and other inputs to farmers for the dry season farming, especially with the huge losses farmers had already recorded,” Akinbade said.
She highlighted some of the efforts of the association in getting high-yielding seeds from some agricultural institutes due to increased prices of inputs.
The coordinator said that despite the climate change effects on agriculture, small scale women farmers were not relenting in their farming ventures because they had no other means of survival.
“We are going ahead with planting and usually dry season farming starts between August and September.
“But with the effects of climate change on agriculture, it is hard to tell what the weather pattern for the dry season will be like.
“Regardless, we will do what we can. We will plant and believe in God for the best,” she said.
Akinbade, however, called on the government at all levels to extend more of its interventions programme to small scale farmers, particularly the women.
“Government support to small scale women farmers is very crucial to the emancipation of women from poverty.
“Women are striving to provide ends meet for their families and they are doing so through various innovations and thrift contributions to support their families.
“These efforts must be recognised by the state and supported so that families can survive the harsh economic situation being witnessed,” the coordinator said.
