…As NWAPDI leader urges FG to prioritise security for women in farming
By Hillary Asemota
The National President of the All Farmers Association of Nigeria (AFAN), Arc. Kabir Ibrahim, has endorsed and thrown its weight behind the newly -formed Nigeria Women for Agricultural Progressive and Development Initiative (NWAPDI).
It would be recalled that last Tuesday, Omolara Svensson, National Coordinator and President of NWAPDI, announced that NWAPDI had pulled out of AFAN over poor inclusion of women in AFAN’s activities as well as the lingering leadership tussle in the farmers’ umbrella body.
In a rare solidarity and support on Thursday in Abuja during the Train-the-Trainers workshop on safety and security for women farmers drawn from the North Central Zone of the country, Ibrahim, admitted that women must be supported and encouraged to engage in agricultural productivity for national development.
Speaking against the backdrop of the pulling out of NWAPDI, Ibrahim underscored the need for all well-meaning Nigerians to support women farmers to boost food production and achieve food security in the country.
He said: “I am glad that women are coming together. They are focused. Women in agriculture are reliable and credit-worthy.
“They will carve a niche in agriculture. Everybody will look for them. AFAN will also look for them.
“This people are farmers. AFAN is the umbrella body of all farmers in Nigeria. We know that women must be encouraged to do agriculture in Nigeria.”
Also speaking, the National Coordinator and President of NWAPDI, described the endorsement and support of her organisation by AFAN as a welcome development.
Svensson, explained that the withdrawal of NWAPDI from AFAN was borne out of the need to boost agricultural productivity in Nigeria as well as involve women in the agricultural sector, spanning production, processing, trade, and commerce.
She further assured that her organisation would collaborate with AFAN when it resolves its lingering leadership tussle in a bid “to ensure food sustainability in Nigeria and ensure that everyone in the agricultural sector could earn a decent living and ultimately, making agriculture the main source of wealth in Nigeria and Africa.”
Meanwhile, the National Coordinator and President of NWAPDI, has urged the Federal Government to give priority attention to the security and safety of women in agriculture.
While acknowledging the efforts of the present administration to ensure food security in Nigeria, Svensson advised the government to place much premium on the capacity building of women farmers to guarantee their safety and security on their farms and processing plants.
She revealed that her organisation would organise training on safety and security for women in agriculture in all the States of the Federation, adding the workshop had kicked-off simultaneously in Abuja for North Central Zone as well as in Lagos State for South West Zone.
According to her, “The training became necessary because 42% of the work that is done in NWAPDI is on safety and security.
“We discover that lack of safety and security orientation amongst our women from the farmers, to the processors, to the traders, they lack the right knowledge and orientation with regard to safety and security.
“The training today is targeted at the trainers. We have about 150 women here. The whole idea is that the Zonal, State Coordinators would take this training back to their wards and spread it and we will keep improving ourselves.
“The training is also going on in South West, taking place in Lagos State simultaneously and we are working next on South-south , South-east, North-east and North-west.
“It is high time we started paying more attention to the training of our farmers, food processors and everyone in the agricultural sector on the importance of security and safety on our farms and in our processing plants.”
In an interview with newsmen, Harrison Ehimikhuai, Chief of Staff to the Nigerian Regional Administrator, Occupational Safety and Health Association, explained that the essence of the training was to inculcate safety best practices in women agriculturists.
Ehimikhuai, one of the facilitators at the workshop, stressed the need for women to know how to use chemical fertilizers, pesticides, herbicides and other farm implements to forestall injuries and fatalities on the farms and processing plants.