Stakeholders seek unrestricted access to arable land for women farmers

The Federal Government and other stakeholders in the agric sector have been urged to provide unrestricted access to arable land for women farmers, to scale up agricultural activities and production of food to meet the dietary needs of the country.

The Executive Director, Environmental and Rural Mediation Centre (ENVIRUMEDIC), Chief Monday Ogheneruona Itoghor, noted this at a one-day Land Campaign Through Townhall Meeting in Delta State, aimed at removing the bottlenecks in women’s access to land.

In his presentation, entitled, “Women access to land: Leave no woman behind to equitable access to farm land,” he emphasised the importance of land in sustainable agricultural development, stating that land plays important role in women’s socio-economic development and empowerment, especially for poverty alleviation.

Itoghor stressed the importance of land in sustainable agricultural development, stating that land is the bedrock of food security, improved agriculture and acceleration of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

He added that despite the benefits land offer, it is obvious that women own and control less land than men, attributing it to the skewed Nigerian land tenure system and archaic patriarchal system.

“The 1999 Nigerian Constitution and other legal instruments allow women to own land, but in practice, women’s access to land is quite limited. According to the Ministry of Women Affairs, only 10 per cent of landowners in Nigeria are women.”

Itoghor further noted that many had argued that in Nigeria, women’s rights appear to be protected considering the fact that the country is a signatory to the Convention on the Elimination of All forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) and the Solemn Declaration on Gender Equality in Africa (SD-GEA), still the protection is mostly practicable on paper.

He added despite the fact that a paltry 10 per cent of women own land, 75 per cent of food sold at local markets is produced by women, thus, raising the questions on what are the barriers militating against women access to land? How would relevant stakeholders and opinion leaders help to support women access to land and market? And how would stakeholders help to identify policy gaps and recommend solutions to address the challenges?”

The representative of the Commissioner of Agriculture, Delta State, Mr. Charles Mordi, stated that women’s ownership of land for agriculture activities might not be a major challenge in some communities.

He, however, expressed concern over the speed at which real estate developers acquire massive lands from communities, a development he said would soon encroach into available farm lands, leaving communities scrambling for farm lands in the near future.

He called on the government of Delta State to properly regulate the real estate business.

Continuing, he expressed the compelling need for strengthening of the capacity of women farmers in the state for them to brace up with inherent challenges in the agriculture sector.

He said: “Delta State government is putting measures in place through its policies to boost productivity in the agriculture sector,” even as he charged women farmers to be more determined in their advocacy targeted at improving on farming, adding that female farmers could attract some benefits if they key into government’s programmes that aim to support farmers.

Mordi added that the identified challenges in the agriculture sector would be communicated to the Commissioner of Agriculture, assuring that positive steps will be taken by the government to improve productivity in agriculture.

Acknowledging the challenges in agriculture as identified at the session, the representative of the Delta State House of Assembly, Mrs. Abigail Eseadi, said that government’s efforts to catalyse production in the agriculture sector were on top gear.

She said: “There is ongoing legislation to reposition the agriculture sector for better growth,” adding that roles such as clearing of farm lands, improving the knowledge of farmers through training, tackling insecurity, providing cluster of farm lands to farmers, promoting irrigation farming, providing financial services to farmers among others would be factored into the ongoing legislation at the House of Assembly.

Also speaking, the Director at the Delta State Ministry of Agriculture and Natural Resources (MANR), Mrs. Patience Isioma Aniye said, “Delta State is set to address complaints about non-availability of land for agriculture activities through its communal land for agriculture initiative, which is easily accessible to farmers across the state.”