UN calls for access to modern tools for rural farmers

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Photo Credit: Flickr/IFPRI/Milo Mitchell

By Hadiza Abdulrahman

The United Nations, says women account for a substantial proportion of the agricultural labor force, including informal work, and perform the bulk of unpaid care and domestic work within families and households in rural areas.

Despite their contributions, most of them do not have access to land, technology, and other support as men.

These barriers have continued to hinder the growth of the rural women, hence the clarion reminder for societies to empower them economically and socially to improve their quality of life and enable them to contribute to the development of their communities.

As a reminder of their contributions, the International Day of Rural Women is celebrated annually on October 15th. This observance highlights the various ways in which rural women enrich rural life and contribute to development.

According to the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, women account for 75percent of the farming population in Nigeria, working as farm managers, and suppliers of labour.

A potato farmer in the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja in Nigeria, Mrs Mary Idoko expressed concern over lack of access to large farmland to enable them produce in large scale.

She went further to say credit and finance also remain a big challenge for most women farmers to sustain their farming business.

“We always pay for land every year before we can farm, if government can assist us with farmlands, it will help address the issue of hunger in the country,” Mrs Idoko said.

Similarly, Lami Maiwada lamented on the tedious manner in which they farm due lack of modern farming tools, land and finance.

The story is not any different with Ladi Ishiaku, who said “we want to go into large scale farming. If government can assist us financially as well as with machines to work, we will perform optimally.”

UN Women submission

UN Women representative to Nigeria, Beatrice Eyong said for the women markers to work well, it was important to provide them with the appreciate tools.

”Today we are advocating that their conditions be improved despite they do all these hard works they face key challenges. You cannot tell them to produce food when they lack access to land, there is heavy labour burden, we are advocating for labour saving devices,” Eyong said.

She advocated that the women be provided with the need technology, good farming inputs to reduce their burden in the homes, farms and markets”.

Government Response

The Minister of Women Affairs, Mrs Uju Kenedy-Ohanenye said the ministry is introducing measures to help alleviate their plights.

She said “we have decided to change the narrative and how the new narrative will affect what we are about to do. We have to support them, appreciate them. We have to encourage them by making things easier for them. We would equally work with relevant stakeholders to provide them tools, teach them some good practices.”


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