How to bring succour to small and subsistence women farmers took the centre stage in Ilorin, the Kwara State capital.

The event, which attracted participants from the state House of Assembly, Ministry of Agriculture and women farmers from three local government areas, was organised by the Centre for Community Empowerment and Poverty Eradication (CCEPE), a non-governmental organisation (NGO).

After the event, the participants concluded that women farmers are in good stead to ensure the much-clamoured food sufficiency in Nigeria.

At one of the interactive sessions, Chief Executive Officer, CCEPE Alhaji Abdulkareem Sulaiman, said the forum aimed at bringing the right holders and the duty bearers together.

He said the right holders are the government while the duty bearers are the farmers.

He said: "We just brought them together so that the government and other stakeholders that are in charge of these women farmers can be abreast of their problems and challenges and how to assist them so that they could produce more than what they are doing now.

"We know they are the people feeding the cities and they are in the rural areas. They have a lot of problems such as bad roads, lack of basic necessities of life and inputs to their agriculture work such as fertilizers and tractors. They even had not seen extension workers around here. The extension workers would advise them on what to do and how to take their cases to the government.

"That is why we brought these two parties together: the famers and the people representing the government from the House of Assembly and the Ministry of Agriculture, so that they will have direct contacts and direct discussion with one another and from there they can move forward.

"Women farmers are the producers of what we eat in the cities. If you go to those communities, you will see that women are better farmers than many men. That is why we focus our attention on small holder farmers. They are small holder farmers because they do not have access to huge resources to go into mechanised farming. They are very fundamental and relevant to food security in the country."

Contributing, Senior Programme Officer of the NGO, Ayuba Akindele urged the state government to always factor in the women farmers in its annual budgets.

"Women should be given special priority and the government should create enabling environment. We need women budgeting, gender sensitive budgeting, budget that will take care of the concern and challenges of women farmers. Women farmers feed the nation," he said.

A member of the House Committee on Agriculture and Water Resources, Mrs. Segilola Abdulkadri expressed her happiness over the interactive session.

Mrs. Abdulkadir, who represents Ilorin Central in the House said: "I am happy that this group exists. They have been on their own for a very long time without anybody coordinating them. Now that they have an organisation coordinating them, at least they will have access to all helps that the government is putting in place in the budget for them."

She expressed her optimism that women farmers could serve as vehicles that would ensure food security and sufficiency in the country.

She said: "You heard all of them introducing themselves as farmers. They produce so many food stuffs. They are not limited to little products such as pepper and tomatoes; they said they produce cassava, soya bean and others. Who else are potential beneficiaries?

"I think they have started now. I believe that by next year, they will have more voice to talk and more people will get to know them. I have solicited from the ministry that they should add some money in the next budget. The same will apply to the Federal Government. By the time the state starts, I am sure that the Federal Government and even the local governments will have some packages for them."

Director, Agriculture and Engineering Services, the state's Ministry of Natural Resources, Oyedele Abifarin said the state plans to make every farmer a mini-commercial farmer.

He said: "The N250 million loan that was granted to the farmers this year has already been disbursed to 172 farmers.

"If these people are willing to pay, the governor had promised that he will expand it from the pilot scheme to a full blown one where everybody will become mini-commercial farmers, because the determination of what you are going to grow will be from the beginning, knowing your off-taker and knowing where you are selling.

"This year's loan facility is already gone but by the time they register, we will know them and we will be able to plan for next year. The ministry has been assisting women in their agricultural development activities. But it can never be enough.

"We will continue to strive to develop our women because they are the other arm of men. Women are very useful to the family.

Since women are in agriculture, we know that our family will be properly fed. As a result of this, we will continue to empower them.

"We have advised them to form co-operative societies; because it is through the society that they can access loans. Government, as a facilitator, will continue to provide grants in order to develop agriculture and to ensure that they get what is required for them to develop our agriculture.

"If they are in co-operatives, the banks will be able to listen to them. With government's off-taker-driven agriculture, this allows the producers which are the farmers, to be able to determine and know what to produce even before they start.

"From there, if they articulate it very well, they would have known the person to buy their product, who is the off-taker and the price to sell to be able to determine their gains. This will develop our agriculture very well and there would be no wastage.

"The era of when you produce and you do not have somebody to buy the produce is gone. We are to determine who will buy it before the farmer produces. That is what Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed is doing."