Gombe SWOFON seeks N50m in 2022 Agriculture budget
Chima Azubuike, Gombe
Small-scale Women Farmers Organization in Nigeria (SWOFON), Gombe State chapter, on Wednesday, urged government to scale up agriculture budget to 50 million naira, adding that implementation should be ensured.
Recall that in the last two years government has made budgetary allocations without an eventual release of funds to Small-scale Women Farmers.
The group made this disclosure, in a-14 point communique issued shortly after a stakeholders consultative meeting towards Scaling Up Investment in Agriculture (SUPIA), organised by Hope Foundation for the Lonely with support from Action Aid Nigeria.
According to the communique signed by the chairman, Yusuf Atiku, the forum of women farmers stated that prompt release of funds would boost agricultural production.
SWOFON also commended the various efforts of the Muhammadu Yahaya led administration, geared towards supporting women farmers, stressing that efforts should be made towards the implementation of paperwork.
The communique read partly, “Gombe state government should ensure the implementation as budgeted in the Ministry of Agriculture and Animal Husbandry budgetary allocation for smallholder’s women farmers.
“The government should ensure easy access to credit facility at single digit interest rate to be made available to smallholder women farmers across the state.
“The Federal and State government should employ agricultural extension officers to train smallholder women farmers on Good Agricultural Practice.
“There should be a steady and deliberate incremental commitment to Agriculture budget such that 10% of the Malabo commitment is achieved in the yearly budget.
“The government should provide more Agricultural farm inputs, women friendly machineries and labour saving technologies for easy access to women farmers.
“The state government should increase the budgetary allocation of the Ministry of Agriculture and Animal Husbandry.
“The government should deliberately strengthen the security mechanism and systems to mitigate farmers-herders crises banditry, kidnappings and insurgency in the North-East.
“The state government should increase the budgetary allocation of the smallholder’s women farmers’ in 2022 to Fifty Million Naira (N50m) and ensure implementation.”
While lauding efforts of the State Government, Ministry of Agriculture and Animal Husbandry for the provision of ruminant feed for small scale women farmers and other efforts to revolutionize the Agricultural sector, the forum revealed that small holder women farmers are the producers of over 70% of the food consumed in Nigeria.
“Gombe state government should ensure timely procurements and distributions of farm inputs (especially organic fertilizers) to smallholder’s women farmers.
“Private institutions, NGOs and government at all levels should provide empowerment (trainings and grants) to smallholder women farmers.
“The Gombe State Agricultural Development Programme should be well funded (personnel, vehicles, motorcycles and transport allowances) to be adequately provided so that the extension agents will be able to meet the extension needs of farmers especially smallholder women farmers across the state.
“Smallholder women farmer organizations and CSOs should continually be invited to participate in all budgetary and policy making processes to ensure proper needs of farmers are always captured.
“The government should promote the use of gender-sensitive data collection for evidence-based planning.
Gombe State government should promote policies that enable women farmers to have land ownership,” the communique added.
Also speaking, during a chat with newsmen, Chief Executive Officer of Hope Foundation for the Lonely, Sarah Yapwa, urged government on timely release of funds allocated in the budget line.
Yapwa said, “Well, I’m not very much satisfied but am encouraged because for some years now women have been involved in advocacy, before it has not been there now it is there. We will follow up to see how money allocated to small holder’s women farmers can be released.
“However, the next step will be to follow up to see how money allocated to small holder’s women farmers can be released.
“However, the next step will be to follow up to see how the money will be released. We really want to be sure this money will be released to the women. We have planned our strategies to see how we can go the first lady and all the connections we can pull to ensure this one is released.”
On her part, Esther George, secretary of SWOFON Gombe State chapter, said the forum would advocate for an increase in budgetary allocation, adding that emphasis would be placed towards it implemention.
“Previous years we have been making advocacies and government keeps promising. In our programme we will keep advocating until we see the release. We also have intention of encouraging government to add more.
“If they don’t consider the plight of women we are so sorry, food will be more expensive next year than it is this year because the small holder’s women farmers are the ones producing this food. We hope government will heed our call,” she said.
Also, Permanent Secretary Budget, Gombe State Ministry of Finance, Jalo Ali, assured the gathering on government’s preparedness to support women farmers.
Ali while lauding Action Aid Nigeria, Hope Foundation for the Lonely for the interest in women farmers, he said,”Make a short brief of this so that when we get to the public consultation, before we prepare annual budget. It will be an avenue where you stand up to make the presentation for someone to summarize what is happening so that policy makers at the highest level can listen and understand what you are saying.
“I understand that not much has been achieved but continue and never be deterred and that is what basically is the responsibility of civil society not to fold hands and say government is doing that or not . If we decide to fold our hands it won’t work.”
