women in Agric |
A
call has gone to organizations investing in agricultural development to
take into consideration the untapped role that female farmers can play
as they create and implement their programs and policies.
This
was made known by the U.S Government’s Hunger and Food Security
Initiative, “Feed the Future”, whose main aim is to improve the lives of
smallholder farmers by increasing food production, improving nutrition,
expanding access to markets, and boosting incomes.
It is a known fact that many our farmers are women who play vital roles in agriculture and food security.
Around
the world, female farmers play an important role in agricultural
productivity. However, women in agriculture face many more challenges
than their male counterparts, including barriers related to land
ownership, access to technology and machinery, training, decision-making
powers, and participation in value chains. As a result, female farmers
are unable to reach their full potential.
AgroNigeria
International Correspondent reports that this is taken into cognizance,
the theme of this year’s International Women Day focused on Women
Empowerment and Service to Humanity.
If
women farmers who are less productive than men because they have a
harder time getting land, tools, credit and training, were to have the
same access to these resources as men, they could increase farm yields
by 20 to 30 percent.
Bearing
this in mind, if the barriers faced by women farmers can be removed, it
would boost agricultural output, strengthen women’s abilities to feed
themselves and their families, improve their economic situation, and
further promote greater global food security.
By
empowering rural women — with access to credit, the means to transport
crops to market and, most fundamentally, the basic right to make
decisions about the use of their land and resources — we will help feed
the world and spark important social advances.
Through
its Feed the Future initiative and other programs, the United States
works to improve agriculture in 19 partner countries in Central America,
Africa and South Asia – AgroNigeria Correspondent reports.
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