SWOFON harps on increased, timely budgetary release
….says’ll ensure food sufficiency in Gombe
Small-scale Women Farmers Organisation, Gombe State chapter, says increased and timely release of budgetary allocation in agriculture would ensure food sufficiency and wealth creation.
Speaking on Thursday during a one-day consultative meeting organised in partnership with Hope Foundation for the Lonely with support from ActionAid, the State Coordinator, Airudia Mamman, commended the government for considering SWOFON by earmarking N70 million in the 2023 budget of continuous consolidation.
Mamman called on Governor Muhammadu Yahaya and Speaker Abubakar Luggerewo, to scale up the 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 Malabo/Maputo commitments. To facilitate citizens’ inputs into the 2024 Agriculture budget by creating ownership, linkage and integrating programmes that will help Gombe State and Nigeria achieve food security,” she said.
The Coordinator while seeking for a scale up in 2024 budget added, “the state government needs to increase budgetary allocation of the Smallholder’s Women Farmers’in 2024 to atleast N100million and ensure timely release.”
She urged Yahaya’s-led administration to stop lumping up agriculture budget in the name of women, stressing that special consideration should be given to women.
“The 2024 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,” she added.
Speaking earlier, Permanent Secretary Ministry of Agriculture Dr Ibrahim Yakubu, said government would continue to support women farmers, following their importance to food security.
He said, “Unlike previous years fertiliser has become available for any willing person to buy. Government understands the importance of women in food security and will continue to provide the necessary support to make Agriculture easy.”
In an interview with journalists, Overseeing Director Agricultural Services, Gombe State Ministry of Agriculture Ibrahim Sajo, disclosed that the state government was doing its best towards providing the needed support to women farmers in the state.
“Just like I told you when the demand is too much on the table scale of preference has to be put in place to select most prioritised area and implement. You have seen how much the state invested in fertiliser alone, let me tell you fertiliser is the most important in crop production. As time goes on the money SWOFON is pursuing will be released if not all but some,” Sajo added.
