Success Damian:
When women farmers are supported and empowered with the right resources, such as education, information, finance and land, they are capable of exponentially increasing the nation's food production capacity resulting in food security for citizens.
This was the submission made by speakers at the Movement for Women in Lagos State Institutions for Good Governance (MOWLAS) 2nd Webinar Series titled "Post Covid-19: Role of Women in Gender Equity and Agriculture" which held on Wednesday, 26th August, 2020.
The speakers, which included Prof. Adeola Animashaun, from Lagos State University, Dr. Olubunmi Adewusi from Caleb University and Dr. Victoria Adenle-Saheed from Lagos State Polytechnic (Laspotech) agreed that in spite of their equal participation in farming activities, women have often been marginalized in accessing farming resources, with the implication that their earning power in the sector is diminished.
The first speaker, Dr. Olubunmi Adewusi, who spoke on the sub-topic, "Women and Food Security" said that the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic on agriculture are huge and far-reaching, and have compounded the issues of hunger and food insecurity in Africa. She said that women account for about 50% of players in the agricultural sector and are directly and indirectly involved in crop and livestock farming, transportation, marketing and sales, and processing of farm produce. They also play the role of providers in many homes, and responsible for the feeding of the household from their farming practices.
These, she said, does not preclude them, especially those from developing countries, from facing various challenges such as gender discrimination and bias, lack of education, lack of good healthcare, low access to loan facilities, and lack of child care support system, even as 820 million of people from the affected nations are undernourished.
She added that for the FAO goal of 2030, i.e, increase in food production by women up to 30%, to become a reality, women must receive adequate support such as access to funds and other resources in equal proportion with men, amongst others.
Dr. Victoria Adenle-Saheed who spoke next corroborated the first speaker's assertion that more support is needed for women in agriculture as women continue to be marginalized in spite of producing 60-80% of food in most developing countries.
Quoting the SFA team and Cheryl Doss (2011) research, she stated that agriculture can be an important engine of growth and poverty reduction, but unfortunately, the sector is underperforming in many countries. This, for her, is connected to lack of resources and opportunities for women interested in farming. She harped on denied land ownership, low illiteracy rate, low bargaining power, and lack of access to credit facilities as the bane of women's successful participation in the sector, adding that these problems have now been worsened by the effect of covid-19.
She urged the government and other stakeholders to address this setback by protecting the right of women as spelt out by the law, ensuring equitable allocation of land to women for farming purposes, assisting them with finance, free healthcare and farming equipments, and providing other incentives such as maternity leave and pension scheme.
The last speaker, Director, Lagos State University Centre for Environmental Studies and Sustainable Development (CESSED), Prof. Adeola Animashaun, spoke on "Finance and Risk Management in Agriculture" added that in spite of making up to 50% of farmer worldwide, women only own 20% of farming lands, and have less access to credit and information.
She classified the role of women in agriculture into three: Contributor, i.e, those focused only on housework, unsure of how to start and run a commercial activity, and have little mobility and no decision-making; Collaborator, i.e, those who jointly own and manage farms, participate in decision making around farm activities, have small businesses and interested in growing their businesses; and the Sole or Main Proprietor, i.e, someone who has her own income-generating business, provides inputs into family financial decisions and wants to invest more and grow her family business and asset.
She added that female farmer can get financing for their for their agriculture activities through personal saving, equity, grants, commercial loans from banks, revolving funds, fintech and subsidized loans, and agric value chain and financing.
On managing risks in the business, Prof. Animashaun advised farmers to maintain a separate bank account in the name of the business, maintain proper records on income and expenditures, and take insurance, while taking proactive steps to mitigate the risks associated with farming.
The MOWLAS Webinar Series was convened by Former Acting
Vice Chancellor, Lagos State University and Director, Directorate of
Advancement of the institution, Prof. Ibiyemi Olatunji-Bello, mni, and
moderated by Provost, Adeniran Ogunsanya College of Education (AOCOED), Prof.
Bidemi Lafiaji-Okuneye.
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