Small Scale Women Farmers of Nigeria (SWOFON) has called on the Bauchi State Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development to constitute a gender steering committee for the implementation of the gender policy in the agricultural sector in a bid to offer gender-sensitive approaches towards food production.
The Bauchi State Chairperson of SWOFON, Hajiya Marka Abbas, made this call at a one-day interactive forum organized as a follow-up of the 2022 World Food Day with the theme “Leave No One Behind”, held at the BSADP Conference hall in Bauchi.
The first National Gender Policy in Agriculture was launched in 2019, as a result of consultations by the Federal Ministry of Agriculture with small-holder women farmers, Ministries, Departments and Agencies, Development Partners and Civil Society Organizations.
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The policy linked the lack of growth in the agricultural sector to the exclusion of smallholder women farmers in strategic participation and in key decision-making, while providing a clear direction for the implementation of guidelines needed to ensure fair and equal participation in the entire agricultural process and food systems.
The program was organized by Small Scale Women Farmers in collaboration with Fahimta Women and Youth Development Initiative and the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development with support from ActionAid Nigeria.
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The SWOFON chairperson requested the training of women farmers on climate change mitigation and adaptation strategies, while calling on the state government to review the Land Use Act to address issues of gender discrimination in land ownership in the state.
The State Commissioner of the Ministry of Environment and Housing, Hamisu Shira, who was represented by a Director in the Ministry, Mahmood Mohammed, noted that poor agricultural practices and the problem of climate change will continue to pose a great challenge to the issue of food security if stringent measures are not taken into consideration.
