Association reiterates commitment to empower women farmers

The Association of Women in Trade and Agriculture (AWITA) has reiterated its commitment to empower and encourage local women farmers in the country.

The Lagos State Coordinator of the association, Dr Anthonia Amakwe, said this in an interview on Friday in Lagos.

She noted that AWITA aimed to build capacity for women farmers and empower them to fulfil their potential in the Nigerian agricuture space.

According to her, "women are the most marginalised in the agriculture sector.

"And to help women in agriculture, we have come together in clusters to form cooperatives where they can access loans at minimal percentage interest rates.

"We also organise and attend agriculture seminars and symposia to build and equip women farmers for more productivity in the sector.

"As an association, we have also been able to empower women farmers financially from monies sourced from our personal coffers.

"Also in our Abuja chapter, we have been able to set up food processing plants where women farmers can process their cassava and other agro-produce at minimal cost.

"We have also partnered with the Nigeria Export Promotion Council (NEPC) which has given a lot of women farmers grants of which we are beneficiaries.

"We are putting all hands on deck to ensure that women farmers are empowered," the coordinator said.

Amakwe, however, noted that the lack of storage facilities for agro-produce had particularly affected women farmers negatively.

She said a lot of women farmers were short changed because of the lack of storage and preservation facilities for their agro-produce, hence they sold at a loss.

"What women in agriculture need most urgently is adequate storage facilities for their agro-produce to break even.

"A lot of farmers do not make enough to cover their cost of production because owing of the lack of adequate storage facilities they sell off their wares at a loss.

"We should encourage value-chain addition for all agro-commodities to improve the profitability of the sector for both men and women farmers," Amakwe said.