Female farmers beg FG for palliatives, say cost of living killing us
Following the decision of President Bola Tinubu to remove the subsidy on Premium Motor Spirit, and the unification of the foreign exchange market by the Central Bank of Nigeria, the Small Scale Women Farmers Organisation of Nigeria, has urged the Federal Government for inclusion in the palliative measures being distributed across the country.
The President of the female farmers, Mary Afan, lamented that it was no longer news that the prices of transportation, food prices, goods and services had increased.
Afan, at a press briefing in Abuja on Tuesday, cried out that smallholder farmers had been forced to reduce the size of their farmlands due to the high cost of input and transportation.
The farmers’ association requested that the Federal Government should provide immediate palliative measures, improved seeds and farm input for dry season farming; targeted transportation subsidies to smallholders; support for climate-smart agriculture; market access enhancement; and improved agricultural funding amongst other things.
Police Inspector’s Wife Cries Out As Husband Dies In Detention | Punch
She said, “While we acknowledge the move of the federal and state governments to provide palliatives for citizens as succour for these very challenging times, we are deeply concerned that there is no strategy or framework in place to capture farmers, especially women farmers in the distribution of palliatives. Most worrisome is that there seem to be no palliative measures such as inputs, improved seedlings and seeds to encourage farmers to increase production.
“Sadly, the removal of fuel subsidy and other government policies have brought forth significant challenges for our nation’s agriculture and drive for food security. The ensuing rise in the cost of farm inputs and transportation has had profound implications, particularly on smallholder women farmers who are the backbone of our agricultural industry.”
Afan further noted that the removal of fuel subsidy which has led to an undeniable increase in transportation costs, is unduly affecting the livelihoods of smallholder farmers who rely on affordable means of transportation to move their produce from the farms to the market.
“Aside from the impact of the petrol subsidy removal, the effect of climate change has posed an imminent threat to food production and consumption in Nigeria.
“Smallholder women farmers are unduly affected by the adverse impacts of climate change, such as erratic rainfall, extreme temperatures, and flooding. This further compound the difficulties women farmers face due to the subsidy removal, making it imperative for the government to adopt resilient and climate-smart agricultural practices and roll-out of interventions.”
“For Nigeria to be food secure, we must work in synergy and support the frontline officers (women farmers) who are working tirelessly to ensure that there is food on our table. We must consider the farmers in the planning and design of program and deliberately target them during interventions. Our slogan says it all – No farmer, No food on the table, no nation. “ Punch
