ActionAid Nigeria (AAN) and Small-Scale Women Farmers Organisation of Nigeria (SWOFON) called on President Muhammadu Buhari to urgently complete the recapitalisation of Bank of Agriculture (BOA).
The organisations said such measure would enable smallholder farmers “especially youth and women with disabilities have access to easy and cheap credit.
They made the call in a statement made available to the newsmen on Monday in Abuja by Ene Obi, ActionAid Nigeria Country Director.
According to the organisations, recapitalisation of the bank will also boost food production and generate revenue for the country.
BOA is a development financial institution in the agriculture sector is to provide agriculture and rural financing for smallholder farmers.
Dr. Mohammad Abubakar, Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development recently said the plan would boost nutrition and food security, increase local farmers income and create more jobs for Nigerian farmers.
He further said that it would simulate improvement in the lives and growth across the farming communities.
In reference to the 2023 budget, AAN and SWOFON pleaded with the Federal Government to make yearly budget gender responsive by providing additional line items for implementation of the National Gender Policy on Agriculture.
According to the statement, the gender policy address specific challenges that affect women farmers different from men as well as avoid lumping up budget for women farmers and other groups such as youths.
“There is a need to incorporate more smallholder women farmers in budget planning discussion at national levels.
“Women need to be brought side by side their male counterpart in the discussion and planning of agricultural policy, budgets and implementation,’’ they said.
