By Gabriel Ewepu

ABUJA – Amid  daunting security challenges adversely affecting the nation’s agricultural sector, the All Farmers Association of Nigeria, AFAN, yesterday, said women farmers have been resilient and remain the hope of Nigeria’s food production.

The National President, AFAN, Arc Ibrahim Kabir, stated this during the ‘Train-the-Trainers workshop on Safety and Security for Women Farmers’ in Abuja, in which the participants were drawn from the North Central Zone of the country.

Kabir said women farmers deserve all the support and encouragement needed to upscale food production for the teeming population.

However, speaking on the heels of the National Coordinator and President of NWAPDI, Omolara Svensson, on Tuesday, announcing NWAPDI’s pulling out of AFAN over alleged poor inclusion and neglect of women in AFAN’s activities including lingering leadership tussle in AFAN that had resulted to protracted litigation on who leads the Association, 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.

“These 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, Omolara Svensson, 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, Omolara Svensson, called on the Federal Government to prioritise security and safety of women farmers for seamless food production.

Svensson noted the effort made by the Tinubu-led administration to boost food production, however, she said it is imperative to build the capacity of women farmers and also ensure their security on the farm.

Meanwhile, she said effort is being made to build capacity on safety and security for women in agriculture across the country.

She also made it known that the workshop simultaneously commenced in Abuja for North Central Zone and also in Lagos State for South West Zone.

“The training became necessary because 42 per cent 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 the 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.”

On the sidelines of the workshop, the Chief of Staff to the Nigerian Regional Administrator, Occupational Safety and Health Association,  Harrison Ehimikhuai, while speaking with newsmen explained that the essence of the training was to pass across best global safety practices in women farmers.

Ehimikhuai said the focus of the capacity building is on ensuring women farmers know proper application of chemical fertilisers, pesticides, herbicides including basic ways to prevent injuries and fatalities on the farms and processing plants by basic operational guides of the machines and plants.