NGO solicits govt’s support for women in Agriculture

farmer

A Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO), Building the Nation Initiative, based in Asaba, has urged government at all levels to support women in agriculture to boost food production in the country.


The Executive Director of the organisation, Mrs Hope Fregene, made the call in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Asaba, Delta.

Fregene said there was the need for government to make soft loans accessible as well as modern farm inputs and other farming incentives to women to further encourage them.

She noted that women constitute majority of farmers in the country, adding that in most cases they were not given consideration when distributing farming incentives to farmers in the country.

She noted that women have played excellent roles in key positions of the nation’s economy since independence.

Fregene, however, decried the attitude of some persons in position of authority when distributing farm incentives or soft loans to farmers, alleging “women are usually short changed.’’

She also decried the attitude of some persons who believed that the women were inferior and should be relegated to the background.

Fregene, therefore, appealed to government to give priority to the provision of farming incentives to women farmers and render necessary assistance that would ensure their successful participation in agriculture.
She also called on the government not to see the campaign for the involvement of women in agriculture as lip service rather as a genuine one. (NAN)