By Dwelleth Morountodun
The President and founder of the newly created Nigeria Women for Agricultural Progressive and Development Initiative (NWAPDI), Omolara Svensson, on Tuesday, attributed the lack of national association for women in Nigeria’s agricultural landscape as largely responsible for the country’s food insecurity.
She made the disclosure in Abuja, while addressing stakeholders, women farmers from across the country and journalists on the achievements of NWAPDI in its short period of formation and why it dis-associated itself from the All Farmers’ Association of Nigeria (AFAN).
Asked on why the association is breaking away from the All Farmers’ Association of Nigeria, she said: “We are here to discuss a significant development regarding NWAPDI’s progress and its relationship with the All Farmers’ Association of Nigeria (AFAN).
“After careful consideration and deliberation, the Nigeria Women for Agricultural Progressive and Development Initiative (NWAPDI) has decided to disassociate from AFAN.
“This decision has not been taken lightly but is necessary due to two primary concerns: The poor inclusion of women in AFAN’s activities and the ongoing leadership tussles within the organization, I and all other women have tried to address during my tenure as Head of Women in Agriculture for the Oyo State AFAN chapter.
“Despite numerous efforts to resolve these complicated issues, we have found it necessary to redirect our energy and resources to NWAPDI.”
According to Svesson, NWAPDI was established as the first and foremost Nigerian organization exclusively for women involved in the agricultural sector, spanning production, processing, trade and commerce, adding that unlike AFAN and similar organizations, NWAPDI is uniquely focused on empowering and supporting women in agriculture across the country.
“Our mission is to ensure that women have significant and influential role in shaping the agricultural landscape of our country.
“However, despite our efforts, we have observed a persistent lack of meaningful inclusion and recognition of women within AFAN, undermining our core objectives and the progress we strive to achieve.
“Additionally, the continuous leadership disputes within the AFAN have created an unstable and counterproductive environment.
“These internal conflicts have hampered effective collaboration and progress, making it increasingly challenging for NWAP to fulfill its mandate under such circumstances.
“As of today, NWAP stands as the only Nigerian registered and authorized women-only agricultural initiative in Nigeria. This position underscores our commitment to creating a focused, inclusive, and progressive platform for women in agriculture.” She added.
By standing independently, she acknowledged that the association can more effectively advocate for the interests of women farmers, processors, commodity traders to drive meaningful change within the agricultural sector.
Svensson, reiterated that NWAPI was launched in February this year and has held its national convention in Abuja, adding that the occasion brought farmers, processors and commodity traders from all the 774 LGAs in Nigeria represented.
She said: “In attendance we had 1, 500 women, we also had our first election for our state coordinators where we have in attendants over 300 women who came out to canvas for votes in their various states.
“On the March 6, 2024, we conducted our inauguration in Abuja with over 800 women in attendance and on that day the 36 states coordinators and that of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) were sworn.
As part of NWAPDI’s achievements, she added: “We have been able to organise multiple free training for our members changing their orientation and mentality and also giving farm inputs from seedlings to animal feeds.
“We can conveniently say that NWAPDI is the only Women Association in the agricultural that has been the voice of the women in agriculture sector in our country so far.
“We also have been able to partner with a couple of international agencies whereby we are able to get for our women free training on how to be a better version of themselves on how to make agriculture become agri-business for them. All of these and more is what we have been able to achieve in the span of less than 6 months.
“Moving forward, NWAP will continue to work tirelessly to support and uplift women in agriculture through various programmes, initiatives, and advocacy efforts.
“We remain dedicated to our vision of a robust and inclusive agricultural sector where women play a leading and decisive role.
“NWAPDI remains steadfast in our commitment to empowering women in agriculture and contributing to the sustainable development in Nigeria’s agricultural industry.”
