Stakeholders demand 30 per cent agric budget, 50,000 hectares for Niger women farmers
From Justina Asishana, Minna Participants at the International Women’s Day celebration in Minna have demanded that the Niger State government allocate 30 per cent of its agricultural budget and 50,000
From Justina Asishana, Minna
Participants at the International Women’s Day celebration in Minna have demanded that the Niger State government allocate 30 per cent of its agricultural budget and 50,000 hectares of land to women farmers to end marginalisation.
The resolution formed the crux of the event organised by the state Ministry of Agriculture, in collaboration with the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA).
Advertisement
300x250
Delivering the lead paper, Dr. Balaraba Abubakar Sule exposed the stark disparity between the contributions of women farmers and the state resources allocated to them.
She said despite smallholder women farmers constituting about 70 per cent of Nigeria’s agricultural labour force and producing about 60 per cent of the food consumed, they hold rights to merely 14 per cent of farmland.
Sule expressed dismay that out of the N29.77 billion capital expenditure in the 2024 Niger State agricultural budget, zero percent was explicitly directed toward women-specific projects pointing that this severe marginalisation has pushed women into precarious farming arrangements across the state.
Relying on data, she said women farmers in areas such as Paikoro Local Government Area were forced to pay exorbitant fees of up to N100,000 yearly to rent farmland, making them operate without guarantee of tenure security.
The keynote speaker stated that these farmers face crippling post-harvest losses of between 40 and 60 percent for perishable crops because of poor road networks connecting their production clusters to market centres.
Advertisement
300x250
To correct these anomalies, Sule outlined a strategic investment framework, urging the state government to reserve 50,000 hectares of its 250,000-hectare land development programme for women.
She also advocated the swift establishment of a state Women in Agriculture Development Agency backed by budgetary autonomy to ensure policies translate into direct action. She argued that empowering women farmers is a strict economic necessity rather than a charitable endeavour.
Read Also: NSW will make Nigeria competitive in regional, global trade, says Edun
Sule noted that closing the gender gap in agricultural resources and input could boost farm yields by 30 percent stating that this targeted state investment promises exponential economic returns, as global evidence demonstrates that women reinvest 90 per cent of their income into their families and communities.
The Commissioner for Agriculture, Isah Sidi Rijau, admitted that women continue to face systemic barriers on access to land, finance, input, and markets despite their contributions across the value chain.
He stated that the administration is committed to targeting women agripreneurs with policies designed to improve access to affordable financing, modern agricultural training, and cooperative structures.
The commissioner stressed that empowering women in agriculture is a strategic necessity to increase overall productivity, improve state-wide food security, and reduce poverty.
