Women farmers decry poor funding, task Gombe Govt on investment in Agric Sector
Women Farmers Organisation Gombe State Chapter (SWOFON), has decried challenges of untimely release of Agriculture budget, adding that increased investment in the sector would eradicate hunger.
The group made this disclosure on Thursday in its communique shortly after a one-day consultative meeting organised by Hope Foundation for the Lonely in Collaboration with Ministry of Agriculture and Animal Husbandry, Ministry of Finance and Economic Development, Gombe and support from Actionaid.
While urging government for 100 million as 2023 budget line, the stakeholders also agreed on the huge role Agriculture plays to the economy, stressing that with adequate support more people would be alleviated from poverty in the state.
Periscope Nigeria reports that Stakeholders also lauded Gombe State Government for considering the small scale women farmers in the present budgetary allocation of 40 Million Naira in the 2022 Budget of Consolidation.
The Communique partly read, “We call on The Gombe State Governor and the State House of Assembly to Scale Up Public Investment in Agriculture, and ensure timely consideration, passage, and total budget releases as a strategic approach to increase food production, reduce hunger and poverty and achieve the Maputo/Malabo Commitments.
“The State Government needs to increase the budgetary allocation of the smallholder’s women farmers’ in 2023 to at least One Hundred Million Naira (N100M) and ensure timely release.
“The 2023 and subsequent years agriculture budget should be gender sensitive and responsive by providing line items for the implementation of the National Gender Policy in Agriculture that address specific challenges that affect women farmers different from men as well as avoid lumping up budget for women farmers and other groups such as youths.
“The State and Local governments should allocate more public investments in agriculture to address the strategic areas of investments that would increase the agricultural GDP to at least 6%. These strategic areas of investments include Extension Services, Access to Credit, Women in Agriculture, Youth in Agriculture, Appropriate Labour-Saving Technologies, Inputs, Post-Harvest Losses Reduction Supports (processing facilities, storage facilities, trainings, market access, etc.), Climate Resilient Sustainable Agriculture (CRSA)/Agro-ecology, Research and Development, Monitoring and Evaluation, as well as Coordination.
“State Ministry of Agriculture should create a yearly Strengthening Access to Credit budget line: This funding should focus on getting consultants or consultancy firms to support women, youths and farmers living with disability cooperatives to be able to navigate the too cumbersome access to credit in Nigeria. The team or consultancy firm will handhold the cooperatives to access existing CBN agricultural credit facilities through preparing their business proposals, interfacing, and negotiating with BOA, Bank of Industry, NIRSAL, commercial and microfinance banks. The team or consultancy firm will ensure that the cooperatives accesses such facilities and other services like extension, insurance, etc. and even market access and they are able to pay back at the end of each circle, etc.
“Considering the agricultural risk; rising insecurity on farms; farm raiding, cattle destructions, and kidnappings, climate and other natural disasters, farmers are not encouraged to continue farm practices without risk covers. Hence, both Federal and State governments should promote the enrolment of agricultural insurance policies for smallholder farmers, while challenging the poor security issues that threatens our farms.”
Addressing the perennial waste around staple food, the stakeholders urged Government on the need to establish storage facilities to enable Smallholder women farmers reduce post-harvest losses, while harping on the role of Agriculture investment plan to farmers in the state.
“Small modular processing and storage facilities in communities based on different commodities should be a good approach to reducing our post-harvest losses in the 2023 agriculture budget and subsequent years, as the larger Staple Crops Processing Zones (SCPZ) are most likely not to reach remote areas.
“There is need for Gombe State to develop an Agricultural Investment Plan. This will enable the efforts of the state and at local government levels to be recognised in the overall determination of the country’s commitment to the CAADP and enable accurate data for the Biennial Review (BR) Reporting.
“The State Ministry of Agriculture should increase budget allocation for organic inputs, bio-pesticides, and agro-ecology. To ensure the successful implementation of agro-ecological projects, the federal and states government need to deliberate in collaboration with organizations and institutions that have proven record of successful agro ecological farms across Nigeria.
“There is need to strengthen the monitoring of implementation of Agricultural projects in the budget by all relevant stakeholders such as Ministry of Finance, Budget and Planning, State Ministry of Agriculture and Agriculture Committees in the State House of Assembly, Farmers and CSOs using an adapted CAADP Results measurement framework and reports documented, shared, and reviewed to enhance lessons learning and improvement in budget implementation in the State,” the stakeholders added.
Speaking earlier, Executive Director HFL, Sarah Yapwa, commended the participants which include women farmers, Ministries, Departments and Agencies for advancing the cause of small scale women farmers in Gombe.
Yapwa, stressed that Agriculture sector is too crucial not to be prioritised by relevant authorities.
Our correspondent reports that no fewer than 53 persons attended the consultative meeting at Hajiya Amina Hall Gombe.
