The Small-Scale Women Farmers Organisation in Nigeria (SWOFON), Oyo State chapter, has appealed to the state government to translate approved agricultural budgets into tangible support for smallholder women farmers.

Tinuke Akinbade, the state coordinator of SWOFON, made the appeal at a news conference in Ibadan on Wednesday. She cited evidence from the IBP-SWOFON SPARK II Policy Brief, which showed a gap in budget processes and the actual delivery of agricultural investments to women farmers in the state.

She said that allocations in the state’s budget to agriculture between 2021 and 2025 never exceeded 4.31 per cent, while agricultural capital budget execution averaged 17.5 per cent.

According to her, the performance was the weakest among the five states assessed under the programme.

Ms Akinbade said that women farmers had actively participated in budget processes and developed a 10-point Charter of Demands, but their demands had not translated into corresponding budgetary allocations and implementation.

“Receiving women farmers’ demands is not enough.

“The government must demonstrate how those demands are reflected in budget lines, how much is allocated, when funds are released and what is ultimately delivered to farmers,” she said.

The SWOFON coordinator called for increased and protected agricultural investment, timely release and implementation of approved capital budgets and conversion of three to five priority demands of women farmers annually into cost and traceable budget commitments.

Ms Akinbade also called for institutionalising women farmers’ participation in state and local government agricultural planning and budgeting.

“We urge the government to improve women farmers’ access to secure land, particularly in view of customary inheritance and tenure barriers.

“Also, we want publication of information on agricultural allocations, releases, expenditure, procurement, physical delivery and beneficiaries to enable farmers and other citizens to track implementation,” she said.

The SWOFON coordinator also urged increased investment in extension services, irrigation, storage, processing, transportation, aggregation and reliable markets, saying production support without market access could limit farmers’ economic returns.

Ms Akinbade also implored the state government, House of Assembly, relevant ministries, departments and agencies, local government councils and development partners to work with women farmers to close the gap between budget approval and actual delivery.

 (NAN)