By Chinyere Anyanwu
The Small Scale Women Farmers Organisation in Nigeria (SWOFON) in Taraba State has reiterated the need to mechanise their farming activities for better yield.
During an event organised by the women where they returned their hoes to the museum in Jalingo, the National President of SWOFON, Mrs. Mary Afan, said the use of hoes on the farm is no longer productive and sustainable.
Represented by one of the national officers, Mrs. Hannatu Soni, Afan said the growing population has increased the number of people who depend on Nigerian farmers for food, hence the need to mechanise their farming activities for better yield.
“Over the years, for farming, we have been using this hoe to feed the nation, we were not this many but now, you can see how the population is increasing, such that we can no longer use this hoe to feed the nation.
“So, what we have come to do today is to retire these shoes to the museum. As we know, this is a place where artefacts are kept so that our children, grandchildren, the generation unborn will come and see it, and know that this is what their parents were using to produce food,” she said.
She urged the government, as a matter of urgency, to provide the women with mechanised farm implements as they have dropped their hoes for them to return to their farms.
“Now that we have done this today, we want to talk to our government, since we are the ones feeding the nation, we have retired the hoes to the museum, and by tomorrow, we want mechanised implements.
“So, we want the government at all levels to give us women-friendly equipment that will save us energy and time we spend on the farm. We no longer want to see these hoes in the hands of women. It makes us suffer, it makes us grow old, it makes us have a low yield in our farms,” she lamented.
Receiving the women, the curator, National Museum, Jalingo, Mrs. Christy Fada Gundiri, who thanked them for contributing to the enrichment of the historical monument, explained that their gesture will enable children, even those yet unborn, to know about the old methods their mothers used in contributing to national development.