From Judex Okoro, Calabar
The United Nations have identified land ownership, lack of finance and infrastructure as problems of rural farmers in Nigeria.
Speaking at this year celebration of the United Nations International Day of Rural Women held in Calabar on Thursday, Deputy Country Representative for United Nation’s Women In Nigeria, Lansana Wonneh, said the celebration is to acknowledge the fact that women particularly in Nigeria do the bulk of the work around food production, processing and marketing of food commodities.
Lansana said even as women do that job, they face a lot of challenges including non-inclusion in the process of decision making, no participation in governance and no funding from government or the private sector.
“In the light of the above, women lack infrastructure, financial support and access to land and land ownership. So, we want to make sure they realise their rights, given adequate resources, and that they are able to produce more, get more income and take better care of their families.
“So, we are here to work with the government and the people of Nigeria to transform the situation of the UN women and in this case, the rural women.”
Also speaking, Prof. Mrs Caroline Aboh from the university of Calabar, said: “The role of women in transforming agriculture. “The women should be encouraged to expand their farms and should be given access to lucrative markets. They should be more educated because they are the engine of the growth of every society.”
On his part, the Cross River state commissioner for Agriculture, represented by Mr Nathaniel Nkor, enjoined the rural farmers to, “consider the production of not just food, but good food by down-playing the use of chemical and focus on the use more of organic fertilizers.
He said women are champions in the cultivation and production of Cassava.