The Small Scale Women Farmers Organisation in Nigeria (SWOFON) has called on the federal and state governments to provide more grants to farmers to boost food production and end hunger.

SWOFON treasurer Fatima Abdu, a farmer in Bauchi, made the call on Friday in Bauchi. 

“Governments need to break the barriers that are holding back women farmers and preventing them from accessing critical farming inputs. They should ensure women have secured land rights and also provide women with vital funding and support for farming to adapt to climate change,” stated Ms Abdu.

The SWOFON official added, “Such support would protect women’s rights and boost productivity. It will also unleash the potential of hundreds of thousands of women farmers to effectively reduce poverty and hunger.”

Ms Abdu urged the governments to encourage women to engage in dry-season farming through mechanisation.

“Mechanisation is one of the few fields that can change not just the economic status but also the social status of women in rural communities, where gender stereotypes are often a challenge,” she stated. “The inclusion of the gender and women empowerment dimension in agricultural mechanisation is a potential game changer. It can open this industry to new customers, create new awareness and new possibilities of broadening occupations.”

The SWOFON treasurer urged the government to closely monitor its various intervention programmes to ensure political farmers did not hijack them.

(NAN)