Agriculture remains an important sector of the country’s economy. This is as a result of the role which the sector contributes to the well-being of the teeming population such as provision of food for the increasing population, generation of employment opportunities and supply of adequate raw materials to industries. Similarly, according to National Bureau of Statistics (Q4, 2019), the sector also contributed 26.09% to the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Citizens especially smallholder women farmers rely on agriculture for their incomes. Yet, the sector has not fulfilled its potential, suffering from lack of investment and insufficient attention from policy makers. Smallholder women farmers are responsible for at least 90% of food production in Ebonyi State and are involved in other agricultural activities including food processing, marketing and livestock. These women also take care of their husbands and children.
Smallholder women farmers who make up large share of the state farmers tend to be locked out of access to agriculture credits, productive farm inputs like fertilizers, herbicides, pesticides, extension services and power saving machines such as tillers, harvesters, planters. Even though it is a fact that farmers in Ebonyi State are mostly women, the access to credit remains limited. This has limited their productivity as well as affected their ability to purchase or hire labour-saving equipment(s) for efficient farming. In addition, smallholder women farmers do not have access to storage facilities, they had to watch their fruits and vegetables spoil or sold off for cheap to middlemen. Furthermore, lack of access to extension services has affected women farmers’ access to new innovations that will help improve their agriculture productivity.
Participatory Development Alternatives (PDA) and ActionAid Nigeria (ANN) believe that when smallholder women farmers are given access to agriculture resources, they will not only improve productivity and state’s ability to feed a growing population, but they will also lift families out of poverty. In line with the objectives of the Public Financing for Agriculture (PFA) project to assess government expenditure on the agricultural sector, PDA and ActionAid have been working endlessly with smallholder women farmers from the 3 senatorial zones of the state; to monitor and assess service provision under government’s agricultural credit facilities; extension services; and agricultural insurance scheme at the state and local levels in order to increase their production, productivity and secure a sustainable livelihoods for them.
The assessment has ascertained the extent to which the objectives of the existing agricultural schemes are being achieved, who is benefitting, and to what extent it has contributed to tackling poverty among smallholder women farmers and promoting their food security. The assessment provided tangible information as to the accessibility, appropriateness, timeliness, usefulness of the scheme and quality of service provision targeting smallholder women farmers. The outcome of findings also provided PDA and smallholder farmers with evidence for policy advocacy as well as holding government accountable and addressing the challenges of women.
Also, findings from the assessment was disseminated to government; series of consultative meetings/press briefings with government was organized to demand for the inclusion of smallholder women farmers priorities in the agricultural budget; several advocacy engagements were carried out to line ministries to support the course of smallholder women farmers. Women farmers have been able to access agricultural essential services like grants, loans and farm inputs.