AFAN backs newly formed women farmers’ association

• As women urge FG to prioritise safety, security

The leadership of All Farmers Association of Nigeria (AFAN) has endorsed newly -formed Nigeria Women for Agricultural Progressive and Development Initiative (NWAPDI).

It would be recalled that last Tuesday, Omolara Svensson, National Coordinator and President of NWAPDI, announced that NWAPDI had pulled out of AFAN over the issue of poor inclusion of women in AFAN’s activities as well as the lingering leadership tussle in the farmers’ umbrella body.

Arc. Kabir Ibrahim, President of AFAN, who throws his support behind the association, stated that women must be supported and encouraged to engage in agricultural productivity for national development.

Speaking at the train-the-trainers workshop on safety and security for women farmers drawn from the country’s North Central Zone on Thursday in Abuja, Architect Ibrahim emphasised the need for all well-meaning Nigerians to assist female farmers in order to increase food production and ensure food security in the country.

“I am glad that women are coming together. They are focused. Women in agriculture are reliable and credit-worthy. They will carve a niche in agriculture. Everybody will look for them. AFAN will also look for them.

“This people are farmers. AFAN is the umbrella body of all farmers in Nigeria. We know that women must be encouraged to do agriculture in Nigeria,” he said.

Also speaking, Omolara Svensson, National Coordinator and President of NWAPDI, described the endorsement and support of her organisation by AFAN as a welcome development.

Svensson explained that the withdrawal of NWAPDI from AFAN was borne out of the need to boost agricultural productivity in Nigeria as well as involve women in the agricultural sector, spanning production, processing, trade, and commerce.

She further assured that her organisation would collaborate with AFAN when it resolves its lingering leadership tussle in a bid “to ensure food sustainability in Nigeria and ensure that everyone in the agricultural sector could earn a decent living and ultimately, making agriculture the main source of wealth in Nigeria.”

She urged the federal government to give priority to the security and safety of women in agriculture.