some Findings were carried out from Women Farmers, leaders of farmers’ cooperative groups and relevant ministries visited as a baseline data on the state of the condition of the farmers and the previous interventions from ministries. 

ICEHD embarked on this project with support from AWDF to achieve the following goals; 

ü  Increase the number of leaders of rural women farmers in Nigeria skilled in climate-smart agriculture and innovative farming technology, equipped with tools for increased crop production, improved food security, access to markets, income and improved agricultural financing by 2022. 

ü  To strengthen CSOs at the Grassroots with the capacity to engage policy, publicly project women’s voices on climate justice and advocate agricultural reform to advance women’s rights by 2022. 

ü  To sensitize policy officials on gender/climate change, and equippe to influence policy reform for mainstreaming gender in agricultural budgeting to achieve climate justice for women in Nigeria by 2023 

The organization has undertaken series of activities which include the following: 

(A) inception meeting with staff, volunteers and consultants on the project 

(B) Commenced advocacy visits both physically and virtuallyand Working with an M and E Officer, the organization developed series of questions requiring responses which include: 

•      what climate change related programs are being implemented by the government and its agencies 

•      What specific programs target women farmers to ease the burdens created by climate change 

•      Laws, policies and strategies in place on gender and climate change 

•      Suggestions regarding the implementation of ICEHD project for women farmers 

•      The ministry mentioned a number of interventions that are on-going in the state: 

•      They expressed delight at the work of ICEHD 

•      Said they collaborate with CSOs and will be engaging ICEHD 

•      Mentioned that a Climate Change Policy was being reviewed and ICEHD enjoined them to ensure CSO participation including validation of the policy (2014-2016 Lagos state Climate Change Policy) 

•      They had held a gender adaptation program, at pilot stage they worked with 3 LGAs in Lagos for the following objectives: 

•      How to engage in climate smart agriculture 

•      How to use waste materials as planters (the benefit is that they will no longer rely on rain to plant) 

•      How to use compost to plant considering the high cost of fertilizers 

•      The ministry mentioned that they supported women farmers with pesticides and insecticide, including educating women on their usage. 

•      Training on adaptation and how to respond to impact of climate change 

•      Training on the use of waste materials to grow crops 

•      The ministry commended ICEHD for engaging relevant ministries from the beginning stating that partnerships such as this yields better results 

•      The ministry stated that budgeting starts from the line ministry –in which case Ministry for environment and water resources provides a budget with a defense which they consolidate and send for approval 

•      ICEHD was commended for engaging relevant agencies from inception and encouraged to engage ministry of agriculture in advocacy to ensure that the budget they submit reflect the needs of farmers especially women farmers. 

•      They promised to support the budget when it gets to them, considering the importance of agriculture to the economy and well-being of women and girls. 

•       Dr. Folayinka mentioned that Lagos has a Resilience project which articulates an integrated approach to addressing the shocks and stresses the city experiences or might experience. 

•      Through this strategy, Lagos is committed to building a city that is efficient, innovative and inclusive. It presents a platform for planning for and tackling acute shocks and chronic stresses, thereby enabling the city to survive, adapt and grow in spite of its multifaceted challenges. 

•      The resilience project according to her has 3 pillars, 10 goals and 31 initiatives. 

•      Agriculture and climate change are cross cutting in all the goals and initiatives 

•      Goal 1 initiative 3- water resources 

•      Goal 2 initiative 1: Upgrade market infrastructure 

•      Goal 3: health systems 

•      Community participatory flood management 

•      Goal 2: Position Lagos as an Attractive and Open City Valuing Cultural and Environmental Assets  

•      Promote Sustainable Waterfront Tourism to Improve Livelihood in Coastal Communities 

•       Regenerate Farm Centers and Explore Urban Agriculture Opportunities to Strengthen Food Security 

•      They have a 5-year agricultural road map 

•      The representative of the ministry Mrs. Balogun Oloyede acknowledged the challenges women farmers face stating that the ministry provides support through cooperatives 

•      The representative stated that they deliberatively support more women as a gender sensitive agency (through the Agricultural Development Authority 

•      They provide grants to both male and female through the Agricultural Development Authority through its national Program for Food security 

•      In response to climate change, the agency said it was working on helping people grow food crops using small spaces within their homes (homestead farming and urban farming launched in 2021) 

•      They are also working towards using technology in farming 

•      They partner with other line ministries and the ministry for environment is responsible for pushing for policy on climate change 

•      They stated that technical advice is given to farmers (citing example of fish farmers) who received training on planting coconut on the coastline to prevent flood and encroachment. 

•      Also fish farmers are encouraged to harvest their fish before rainy season becomes heavy and use of mesh to prevent fish flooding 

•      On what ICEHD should do to support women farmers, the representative of the ministry stated the need for effective monitoring and evaluation of the project from inception to end determine what impact has been made. 

•      Just like other line ministries and considering that we are focusing on women farmers, we wrote to Ministry for Women Affairs and Poverty Alleviation. 

•      We are yet to receive a response from them but we have sent detailed concept note about the project to them. 

•      We are hoping to have roundtable with the line ministries to report on progress.

 Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development 

•      ICEHD representatives met with the gender focal person Madam Ifeoma Anyanwu 

•      On the challenges and constraints faced by women farmers she started by recognizing the critical role women play in tackling food insecurity 

•      She acknowledged that women farmers are the gatekeepers of nutrition in Nigeria 

•      She said that according to the Bureau of statistics women constitute 70% in agricultural development 

•      60% in agricultural processing and 50% in animal husbandry 

•      Only 20% have the opportunity to contribute to ending food insecurity due to inhibitions caused by patriarchy and feminization of poverty 

•      She mentioned lack of access to land as many challenge women farmers face 

•      She mentioned women’s lack of access to funding and loans-stringent loan conditions which excludes women and issue of collateral and need for husband or male household endorsement 

•      On fertilizers and seedling, despite the fact that farming is rural based, distribution happen at levels which require that gatekeepers (mostly men) are the distributors who hand it over to their political cronies who then sell it to women farmers at exorbitant rates. 

•      She mentioned that women’s poor education continues to exclude them as some cannot access metrological information (even read labels) 

•      Access to extension delivery is skewed towards men: most extension workers are men and they lack knowledge of women’s role such as fetching firewood which she says contributes to ‘time poverty’. 

•      She mentioned issue of access and control-so while women might have access as men migrate, but control and decision still rests with men. 

•      Access to market-men are the owners of big enterprises and able to export- rural farmers are under-priced –need for standardization 

 

•      While it is important to celebrate development of policies, it is critical that policies target vulnerabilities of marginalized groups. 

•      While government makes efforts to ensure women have access to seeds, fertilizers, seedlings and insecticides, it is important to ensure that women and women cooperative are prioritized 

•      On funding, madam Anyanwu mentioned the following: 

•      The advo-boras program 

•      Accelerated agricultural development scheme 

•      Agricultural business; small and medium enterprise investment scheme 

•      Macro, small and medium development fund 

•      Bank of Agriculture-one digit loan and women can apply 

   ICEHD Visit to Women Farmers Across Lagos State and Cooperative Representatives 

•      On Wednesday April 20th, ICEHD met with cross section of women farmers across Lagos state and cooperative representatives 

•      A total of 30 female farmers who later took us to at least 4 farms were in attendance 

•      14 are vegetable farmers amongst other croups 

•      4 are poultry farmers 

•      12 are general crop farmers 

•      Some of their challenges enumerated include the following: 

•      Unavailability of farmland 

•      Inconsistent rainfall 

•      Lack of fertilizer 

•      Little or no seedling for next farming season 

•      Low income as a result of poor accessibility to the markets 

•      Lack of equipment such as sprayers, wheel barrow tractor and fertilizers 

•      Too much heat resulting in heat stress leading to poor crop production 

•      They only have knowledge of manual irrigation 

•      Lack of storage facilities 

•      High cost of processing facilities 

•      High cost of labor 

•      High rate of pest and lack of knowledge on how to tackle it 

•      Strong wind and lack of soil fertility 

•      Health crisis and injury in the farms 

•      Scarcity of labor during fasting 

•      Use of traditional birth attendants 

•      Use of leaves to clean injury which might result in infections and other health hazards 

•      Other farm hazards such as rape and abuse by cattle rearers 

 

•      More awareness training on climate change crisis 

•      Alternative system of agriculture 

•      On health: 

•      Health insurance 

•      Trained birth attendants 

•      Access to mobile clinics 

•      Training on the correct use of pesticides and fertilizers 

•      Provision of boreholes for women who farm in clusters 

•      Provision of seedlings, sprinklers 

•      Provision of organic fertilizers which they said is the best form of fertilizer 

•      Price control of farming implements 

•      Training on how to improve quality of soil 

•      Reduction in labor prices 

•      Lack of storage facilities 

•      Mobile phones and apps to help them connect to markets and consumers 

•      Availability of land 

•      Loans and machinery 

•      Ability to negotiate and make profits from farm products 

 

 

CLIMATE-SMART AGRICULTURE CAPACITY BUILDING TRAINING WORKSHOP FOR RURAL WOMEN FARMERS IN NIGERIA HOSTED BY INTERNATIONAL CENTER FOR ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH AND DEVELOPMENT ON CLIMATE-SMART AGRICULTURE IN IMPLEMENTING THE CLIMATE JUSTICE AND ECONOMIC RESILIENCE PROJECT FOR RURAL WOMEN FARMERS AT Top View Hotels, 6, Algiers Street, Wuse Zone 5 Abuja (opposite PDP Secretariat or beside Civil Defense Command) ON WEDNESDAY JUNE 1ST, 2022 

International Centre for Environmental Health and Development (ICEHD) in partnership with the Rose of Sharon Foundation hosted a CAPACITY BUILDING TRAINING WORKSHOP focusing on CLIMATE-SMART AGRICULTURE for 100 rural women farmers in Nigeria. These 100 beneficiaries were selected from six geopolitical zones of the country including 35 widows who received 100 bags of 50kg fertilizers, sprinklers and 100 knapsack sprayers for improved agricultural production, enable food and nutrition security and sustainable income. 

The Climate-Smart Agricultural Training organized by ICEHD is part of a two-year Climate Justice and Economic Resilience Project for Rural Women Farmers in Nigeria, funded by the African Women Development Fund. 

Aside the farm inputs received by these beneficiaries, they were also trained by expertise in various fields on climate-smart agriculture as part of effort to improve food security. 

Mrs Ngozi Nwosu Juba created an awareness on the issue of Gender, women’s advocacy for access, control and ownership of land for economic resilience. This serves as one of the major challenges women face in the Nigerian society. Here she gave a summary of What is Gender? 

Gender refers to SOCIALLY CONSTRUCTED rather than biologically determined roles of women and men, as well as the relationships between them in a given society at a specific time and place. Gender as a social construct has increasingly been recognized as a critical discourse in access to, ownership of, and control over land. According to her, evidence shows that there is a direct relation between access to land, having secured control rights, sustaining food security and ameliorating poverty in agrarian societies. (Odeny 2013) 

She explained that sex refers to the BIOLOGICALLY DETERMINED difference and roles. The qualities, identities and behaviors expected from men and women are determined through the process of socialization. 

She further stated that though land is the most revered resource and indeed, the dominant source of income for the rural poor, especially women, gender-erected discrimination and exclusion are key barriers that prevent many rural women from accessing land. Women’s weak access rights and control over land continues to perpetuate the feminization of gender. 

Men continue to possess primary access and control over land as the heads of households, while women on the other hand have secondary rights due to their ‘stranger statuses’ in their husbands’ families. 

Overall, the degree of access to land among women is situated within two broad contexts – marriage and inheritance. 

Women and girls carry the majority of the care and domestic burden in Nigeria, but they have significantly inferior human capital endowment (Worse access to labor markets, Lower wages, Limited access or title to productive assets (land, credit, and other inputs) and Fewer political opportunities) 

All these impact their ability to support themselves economically 

Continuing here presentation, she stated that a large body of studies on the largely agrarian rural communities demonstrates that access to and control over land plays a critical role in shaping the livelihood and bargaining status of different interest groups 

There is a growing recognition that ownership, access and control of land constitute critical elements in the enhancement of wellbeing and in ensuring food security among rural farmers. 

What is the way forward? she said; 

•      there is an urgent need for a better understanding of women’s subordinate position in Nigeria in order to unpack the issues of gender inequality. 

•      Although women have limited access to land for agricultural purposes, their lower access and control over land could have dire implications for women’s ability to invest and practice sustainable and modern environmental management that could improve their productivity and livelihood 

•      A few partners such as Action Aid, ICEHD should be supported to enhance women farmers’ participation 

•      There should be more research and debate on land use and land rights which can be used for advocacy 

 Cogent to this training is Mr. Cyril Abang Bikom, the Assistant Director, Environment and Climate Change Unit, from the Department of Agric Land and Climate Change Management Services, Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Abuja, who trained the farmers on THE IMPACT OF CLIMATE CHANGE ON RURAL WOMEN FARMERS AND ITS SUSTAINABLE SOLUTIONS, creating awareness of climate change crisis and its impact on Crop farming. He said “Nigeria’s agriculture is most vulnerable and susceptible to the impacts of climate change. Indeed, it is rain-fed dependent. Any change in the weather pattern, in terms of the amount, intensity, duration, and the on-set, duration affect farmer’s decisions on when, what and where of the crops and inputs as well as other cultural operations in the value chain” 

He went further to stress the Gendered impact of Climate Change on women farmers, saying “Gender constraints include: lack of access to natural resources such as access to land for agriculture and other businesses, water for domestic use, irrigation, fuel, wood, health and diseases, anti-natal care, inputs like credit, access to information, technology, equipment and machineries, improve seeds, seedlings, animal species, and fertilizers”. He itemized key Climate Change Adaptation Practices to be adopted, which he referred to as site specific interventions. They are; conservation agriculture, use of good agronomic practices, use of organic manure, crop diversification, use of wetland (Fadama), planting of drought tolerant crops, relocation from climate risk zones, and improvement on farmers’ management skills. 

 

Climate-Smart Agriculture (CSA) is paramount to the success of farming activities today in the face of the menace of the impact of climate change. This he called “a coping strategies that must be implemented to help adapt and mitigate climate change and raise farmer incomes. CSA practice is one of the major keys that agricultural development approaches aim at to sustainably increase productivity and resilience, while also reducing the effects; as well as removing emissions of greenhouse gases”.        

Some of the Climate Smart Agriculture Practical Steps he mentioned are as follows; 

      i.        Water harvesting surface and underground (rainwater from rooftop, on-farm run-off with pits or basins, stream embankment or mini-earth dams and boreholes, wash bore) 

     ii.        Irrigation (flush, sprinkler, drip) during dry season. 

    iii.        Agroforestry -land management system which integrate trees and crop legumes (groundnut, cowpea, soya beans, sweet potatoes). 

   iv.        Conservation tillage or farming (zero, minimum) 

    v.        Seeding fodder grasses. 

   vi.        Afforestation, reforestation (planting of trees- oil palms, mangoes, guava, oranges, cocoanuts, papaya, amongst others) 

  vii.        Alternate wetting and drying (crop intensification) 

 viii.        Integrated nutrient management (organic/inorganic fertilizers) 

   ix.        Transplanting and spacing for increased production 

    x.        Mechanization – use of light machines and cost-effective equipment to reduce drudgery such tractors, animals, harvesters, threshers, power tillers, destoners, color separators, amongst others. 

   xi.        Revegetation 

  xii.        Incorporation of crop residues into soil to improve infiltration, fertility and reduce erosion 

 xiii.        Use of cover crops (groundnuts, cowpea, soya beans, sweet potatoes) 

xiv.        Planting of live barriers to protect from animal’s encroachment 

 xv.        Use of clean cook stoves 

xvi.        Clean healthy environment including drains 

xvii.        Promote good agronomic practices (stop bush burning, plant across slopes, etc.) 

xviii.        Promote value chain development and linkages (production, processing, storage, and marketing and cooperative formation. 

 xix.        Solar dryers and cold chains/rooms to reduce post-harvest loss 

  xx.        Promote planting income generating fruit trees (cocoa nut, pawpaw, mangoes, palms oranges, amongst others. 

 xxi.        Livestock, fisheries and aquaculture 

xxii.        Intensification of livestock production (piggery, poultry, dairy, leather/skin preservation) 

xxiii.        Waste to wealth activities 

Looking at the impact of Climate Change on specific crops, he implore the farmers to; 

·         Take sample of crops 

·          report to Agric extension agent or agro dealer 

·          paravets or nearest research institute for diagnosis, analysis and recommendations. 

Lastly, he gave the farmers strategic steps on What can be done to Improve Farm Business and Income in the face of Climate Challenges on food production, food security and their income. These are; 

Ø  Strengthen capacity of women to discover own talent, advocate and speak out, let their voices be heard, become innovative and acquire skills, seek appropriate knowledge on climate studies (seasonal climate prediction) which affects food production, food security and incomes, form cooperatives for strength, unity of purpose and collective bargaining and recognition as well as natural resource management, rent land for farming, 

Ø  Develop linkages with local agriculture institutions on seasonal climate prediction, crop calendars, improve crop varieties, value chains and segment development, needs assessments and feasibility studies. 

Ø  Embrace innovation and capacity development, strategic mentorship and business plan development initiatives to fit into new just transition and green job sera. 

Ø  Undertake small agriculture business concepts or enterprises, market information linkages including logistics management for various agribusiness and income generating enterprises (e.g. snailery, mush room, epiculture, grass cutter rearing, homestead aquaculture, goat rearing, piggery, dry season home gardening, etc. 

 

Professor Victor Okechuku Chude, The Registrar/CEO, Nigeria Institute of Soil Science spoke on Boosting Women Farmers Yield Focusing on The Local Cost-Effective Ways to Improve Soil Quality and he said “Considering the impact of soils on climate change and vice versa, it is imperative to adopt environmentally safe methods of improving soil quality” 

Some of these environmentally safe methods includes; 

·         crop residues (remains from previous harvests), animal and green manure as well as composting 

·         To improve soil quality, it is essential to reduce soil tillage 

·          The covering of soil surface with organic materials as fresh or dead agricultural residues is known to improve soil fertility and improve crop yields 

·         Managing the use of agrochemicals such as fertilizers, herbicides, and pesticides 

·         Multiple cropping and Intercropping 

·         Agroforestry practice and Alley cropping i.e a practice where crops, animals and tree grow together. It is a climate mitigating, adaptation and soil fertility rehabilitation technology for small farm holding and large farms 

He further looked at the different types of fertilizers and their uses for specific crops. Here, he categorized them into organic fertilizers such as Agricultural waste, Animal waste, Household waste, Minerals and Sludge while inorganic fertilizers include; Nitrogenous Fertilizers, Phosphate Fertilizers, Potassium Fertilizers, Compound Fertilizers, Complete Fertilizers (NPK) and Micro nutrients  
  

NATIONAL CIVIL SOCIETY CONSULTATIVE DIALOGUE ON CLIMATE JUSTICE AND ECONOMIC RESILIENCE PROJECT FOR RURAL WOMEN FARMERS HOSTED BY INTERNATIONAL CENTER FOR ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH AND DEVELOPMENT ON CLIMATE-SMART AGRICULTURE IN IMOLEMENTING THE CLIMATE JUSTICE AND ECONOMIC RESILIENCE PROJECT FOR RURAL WOMEN FARMERS 

Top View Hotels, 6, Algiers Street, Wuse Zone 5 Abuja (opposite PDP Secretariat or beside Civil Defense Command) 

TUESDAY MAY 31ST, 2022 

ICEHD in implementing the Climate Justice and Economic Resilience Project for Rural Women Farmers in Nigeria hosted a national civil society consultative forum with civil society organizations, farmers to strengthen the capacity of grassroots civil society groups to engage policy officials, publicly projecting women’s voices on climate justice and advocate agricultural reforms to advance women’s rights. 
 

Present were the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Ministry of Environment, Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Development, Nigerian Institute of Soil Science (NISS), media personnel, leaders of farmers’ cooperative groups, farmers, as well as civil society organizations (CSOs). 

•      We had an opening section with Mrs Ngozi Nwosu-Juba on Food insecurity, loss of income; health, wellbeing and other challenges including covid-19 and its impact on women farmers, where she asked three cogent questions tagged “The BIG question”. They are; 

•      Is food insecurity increasing or decreasing in Nigeria? 

•      If yes why? 

•      If no why? 

She further made these explicit in her presentation, starting with food security. She said, “Food insecurity has remained high for the following reasons: 

1)   POPULATION DISPLACEMENT: The decade-long Boko Haram insurgency in 

Nigeria continues to cause widespread insecurity and displacement throughout the Lake Chad Basin and has severely affected the northern states of the country. The situation appears to be getting worse as non-state armed groups grow stronger across the region, while humanitarian access is improving, most displaced families still rely on vulnerable host communities for their basic needs, including food. This has put already impoverished host communities under extreme pressure, increasing their exposure to food insecurity and malnutrition. 

The number of people in need of urgent assistance in northeast Nigeria rose from 7.7 million at the beginning of 2020 to 10.6 million after the outbreak of COVID-19. (IOM). Between June and August 2020, 8.7 million people were acutely food insecure (in IPC/CH Phase 3 or above) in 16 northern states and the Federal Capital Territory; half of this number were in Borno, Adamawa and Yobe states. By contrast, 5 million people were acutely food insecure in the same areas and during the same period in 2019, revealing the deep socioeconomic impacts of COVID-19 in the country. 

From our findings on women’s poor access to markets / food pricing/ storage, our conversation with representative of the Ministry of Agriculture confirms; 

•      women’s lack of access to markets 

•      Women are not large entrepreneurs and do not own large enterprise or engage in huge exportations 

•      Most women farmers in Lagos stated that middle men (men) under-price their products forcing them to try to access markets themselves 

•      There is still huge challenge in storage systems and this affects people in animal husbandry 

2)   CLIMATE CHANGE: Based on conversations with women farmers interviewed 

by ICEHD, Climate change poses serious threats to agriculture and food security. Its impact includes heat waves, pests, drought, desertification, freshwater decline, and biodiversity loss. 

If not addressed climate change intensifies the stress on existing resources, increases scarcity and disrupts entire societies, with devastating consequences, particularly for the most vulnerable people. Climate change and population growth are fueling land disputes and increasing tensions and violence between pastoralists and farmers, causing the loss of harvests and productive assets. 

Large pockets of the Nigerian population, particularly in the north, still live below the poverty line. And in the southern part especially East, there are still cultural dictates that make land ownership the sole right of male children. so, families who have only female children lose their land to uncles leading to tribal conflict affecting food productivity. 

 

3)   ECONOMIC IMPACT OF COVID-19: The lock down measures and restrictions 

of movement during Covid-19 pandemic contributed to the shortage of labor for agricultural products. Nigerian women farmers rely almost on manual labor to carry out their agricultural work due to unavailability of mechanized farming tools. Small scale farmers especially faced challenges as security operatives seized or destroyed their produce if they failed to pay bribe during the lockdown, fish and bird farmers suffered huge loss during the lock down, Issue of storage got worse as many farmers who relied on farm storage could not access their farms. 

The pandemic put pressure on health care and health systems all over the world affecting women farmers. 

4)   WORRISOME HEALTH AND NUTRITIONAL INFRASTRUCTURE: 

Women farmers have increased prevalence of many health conditions including respiratory diseases, arthritis, skin diseases and other injuries which might lead to amputations. 

Poor health reduces work performances, reducing income and productivity so, due to poor health conditions of all Nigerians, farmers are not exempted to poor health conditions. 

There are no special or first aid or mobile treatment that can target rural farmers for Rural health services are poor and cannot serve the needs of women including women farmers 

Also, lack of insurance coverage for women and girls in the informal sector continues to pose a challenge, Women in farm settlements give birth without adequate care and protection, while women farmers who sustain injuries in the farms rely on unhygienic means to treat themselves. 

Some women of reproductive age will not engage in farming and this reduces productivity. 

Having buttress much on the various challenges that poses threat to food security, she itemized What can be done. These include; 

•      At a micro-level, farmers must be the primary actors in developing agricultural practices that are not only resilient to climate change impacts but also mitigate challenges faced by rural women farmers. 

•       By promoting sustainable, climate resilient agricultural practices, agricultural production and farmers’ livelihoods could be bolstered while reducing agriculture’s impacts on climate change. 

•      At a national level, governments must make proactive interventions to protect vulnerable populations from the effects of climate change. 

•      Fundamental to mitigating the impact of climate change on agriculturally-dependent populations is the need to better understand the linkages between climate change, food security, and migration. For example, more investments are needed in research and advocacy, including measures to better estimate the number of people who are uprooted due to climate impacts on agriculture annually and support for climate-smart solutions to mitigate displacement. 

•      We don’t need to be farmers to help farmers considering the importance of their contribution to livelihoods. 

•      Civil society groups and other Nigerians must dialogue and agree on how to support farmers.  

Speaking at the event, Dr Ndudi Bowei  said, women farmers accounted for 70 per cent of agricultural workers and 80 per cent of food producers but were at the receiving end of the negative impacts of climate change, and the fact that small scale women farmers were the hardest hit with climate change underscored the need for them to acquire skills in climate-smart agriculture, mitigation and adaptability, soil quality techniques, access to ownership and resources control and innovative farming technology. 
 

Mrs Yetunde Aiyela, executive Director of Dot Connect International Foundation; Comparative Agriculture Commodity For Women And Youth further stressed that there is no synergy/intra synergy between the government and the NGOs meanwhile, they are meant to support and complement one another, so there is  more need for the government agency to partner with CSOs and NGOs to further domesticate the National Gender in Agriculture Policy (NGPA) because ‘‘some of us write to them, go through these policy documents and we want to align ourselves with what they are doing and probably because they don’t know you or you don’t have a big name, they don’t go through your document”. 

Dr stella Iwuagwu of Sustainable Demonstration Farms expantiated on the need to have a new concept of change. She said ‘‘I have to do a revision in my theory of change because we are what we eat, there can be no right to health without right to food” until we as an individual start eating right, before we can see the need to be a voice for climate justice. 

Finally, Mrs Marian Olushola of Women Solidarity Initiative for Development urged civil society groups to go to rural communities to educate women farmers on entrepreneurship. 

The event was well covered by media personnel who captured the events. They include AIT, NTA and Guardian newspapers. The women farmers expressed their joy for the support they received from ICEHD encouraging them to do more.