FCT women farmers seek support for 2023 planting season

By Bukola Adewumi

Women Farmers in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) on Thursday appealed to the Federal Government and private organisations to assist them in the 2023 planting season with farming inputs.

Some of the farmers who spoke with the News Agency of Nigeria in Abuja said they needed modern agricultural inputs to boost food production.

Mrs Victoria Audu, a farmer in Bwari area council, Abuja said lack of finance and agriculture inputs were the major problems facing production in her area.

“A lot of women are facing challenges because they do not have money to buy fertiliser and pesticides to use at the right time.

“To have good harvest you must be able to do the right thing when it comes to farming.

“A lot of beans and maize I planted in 2022 were lost because of late application of fertiliser. Reason was I couldn’t get the loan I applied for early,” Audu said.

Mrs Sarah Yakubu, a farmer from Kuje, appealed to corporate bodies to support women farmers to boost food production.

“Women are the major small holder farmers and contribute greatly to the production of food items because we know the importance of food in the society.

“The major setback we have as farmers is lack of finance and the use of old inputs which is energy consuming. We need the modern ones to boost production.”

Mrs Joyce Ibrahim, a farmer, called on the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (FMARD) and other stakeholders to help women farmers access farm inputs, fertiliser, and pesticides to help boost food production.

(NAN)