NGO launches CSA for small-land-holder farmer

The Women Initiative for Sustainable Environment (WISE), an NGO, has inaugurated Climate Smart Agriculture (CSA) for small-land-holder women farmers in Kaduna State to boost food production.

WISE's Founder and Programme Director, Ms Olanike Olugboji, made this known in Kaduna on Monday.

Olugboji explained that the CSA, supported by Global Fund for Women, was designed to empower women with modern agricultural techniques and access to agricultural services to ensure food security.

She said that climate change had led to reduction in crop yields, the nutritional quality of major food crops and lowering livestock productivity.

The WISE programme director added that security challenges in the country, and Kaduna State in particular, had also prevented many women from going to the farms.

She said that the effects of climate change demanded new approaches to agriculture and stressed the need for women to be empowered with climate smart agricultural practices to enable them to adapt and mitigate the changing climate.

"Climate smart agriculture is an approach that guides actions needed to transform and reorient agricultural systems to effectively support development and ensure food security in a changing climate.

"It increases agricultural productivity and incomes sustainably; adapting and building resilience to climate change; and reduces or removes greenhouse gas emissions where possible," Olugboji said.

She said that the organisation's targets were the poorest and most vulnerable groups, particularly women in communities in Kaduna state.

According to her, most women survived on marginal lands which were most vulnerable to climate change like drought and floods.

Olugboji also said that women had less access and legal right to the land they cultivate, and other productive and economic resources needed to build adaptive capacity, to cope with climate change.

The programme director said that the women would be trained on backyard farming, water management, irrigation, home garden and other climate smart agricultural practices.

She said that after the training, the women would be organised into 20 cooperatives of 25 members each.

According to her, the measure will enable them access extension services, government interventions and other development partners' agricultural programmes.

"We will take care of registering the cooperatives with relevant government authorities and agencies and provide other technical supports.

"We will also help to bridge the gap in respect of access to extension services which largely goes to the male farmers with little attention to women farmers, " Olugboji said.