Enugu Assembly to amend women farmers support bill
Farmers
Enugu State House of Assembly will amend the bill that provides for gender specific needs of female farmers, protects and empowers them with rights over agricultural land, water resources and other such related rights.
At a sensitisation meeting in Enugu at the weekend, the lawmakers observed that presently, the bill is not only contentious and discriminatory, but is against the spirit of the 1999 constitution, adding there was need to amend aspects of the bill to enable it serve overall interest of the society.
Presenting draft copy of the bill to the lawmakers, its sponsors, Women Advocates Research and Documentation Centre (WARDC), a non-governmental, human rights organisation dedicated to the promotion and protection of women’s rights and rule of law in Nigeria, said it arose as certain issues on women’s rights and developmental concerns are still major challenges in Nigeria.
Executive Director of the organisation, Dr. Abiola Akiyode-Afolabi, said: “Nigerian women produce the bulk of food for domestic consumption and they are the drivers of food processing, marketing and preservation. But in spite of these enormous tasks, they have limited access to land, credit facilities, farm inputs, training and advice, as well as technology and crop insurance, among others.”
