Post-World Food Day: Ebonyi, SWOFON strengthen collaboration towards food security 

Agriculture stakeholders in Ebonyi state, including relevant government Ministries Departments and Agencies have recommited to strengthening collaboration with women farmers to enhance food production and nutrition in the state.

 

The commitment was a key outcome of a one-day interactive forum organised by Participatory Development Alternatives, in collaboration with Actionaid Nigeria and the Small Scale Women Farmers in Nigeria.

 

The event was held Monday, November 10, in Abakaliki, the Ebonyi State capital.

 

It was part of activities marking the 2025 post World Food Day with the theme: “Hand in Hand for Better Food and a Better Future.”

 

Recall that the World Food Day is observed annually on October 16.

 

Speaking on the objectives of the forum the Programme Officer, PDA, Ugochi Joseph said it was, among others things to strengthen collaboration between SWOFON and relevant MDAs towards improving agricultural policies and programmes that support Smallholder women farmers, advocate increased budgetary allocation to Agriculture, enhance accountability as well as present and discuss SWOFON’s demand for inclusion in government’s agriculture planning and implementation processes.

Joseph emphasized: “The conversation is not just about growing food but sustaining the systems that support women who grow it.

 

“We must foster the existing collaboration to ensure food sustainability in Ebonyi State.”

 

In her remark, the state Commissioner for Agriculture, Mrs Nkechinyere Iyioku- Ezeani, represented by the Programme Manager, Ebonyi State Agricultural Development Programme, EBADEP, Virginia Egba, commended the organizers for their continued investment in women farmers, noting that the state government was working to enhance access to land, inputs, grants and credit facilities as well as more inclusive policies to enhance the activities of women farmers.

 

She Called on all stakeholders to rally round Small scale women farmers to ensure that innovations achieved in food production in the State are sustained.

 

In her submission, a representative of the Ministry of Budget and Planning, Mrs. Chineyere Ituma, applauded PDA and ActionAid for leading the advocacy for women inclusion in agriculture, stressing that improved sectoral funding is critical in enhancing Agricultural production and national food sufficiency.

 

Ituma maintained that the state agricultural budget has steadily increased over some years in the State, signaling government’s growing commitment to empowering farmers and promoting bumper harvests, adding that the 2025 budget provided funds specifically for women empowerment, including women in Agriculture.

 

In a goodwill message, the State Coordinator, Budget Committee Group, a CSO-driven Agric budget monitoring and review committee, Comrade Matthias Okinya, described the forum as timely, saying it aligns with the group’s drive for inclusive, transparent and sustainable budgeting process favourable to holistic Agricultural development in the state.

 

He emphasized that strengthening collaboration between smallholder women farmers and government institutions was key to building an inclusive and sustainable agricultural system in Ebonyi state, and applauded PDA and Actionaid for amplifying the voice of Ebonyi women farmers.

 

“At the Budget Committee Group, we firmly believe that achieving food security and sustainable livelihoods requires shared responsibility.

 

“We reaffirm our resolve to keep working hand in hand with government institutions, CSOs, smallholder women farmers, and all stakeholders to ensure fair budgets, better food systems, and a more prosperous future for our communities.

 

“We salute the resilience, innovation, and hard work of smallholder women farmers.

 

“Your daily efforts nourish our homes, strengthen our economy, and inspire our advocacy”, Okinya stated.

 

The women farmers, who were given opportunities to share their experiences and challenges, highlighted in a commumique presented at the forum by the state SWOFON coordinator and secretary, Mrs Andrina Okwor and Ifeoma Chukwu, issues such as limited access to land, inadequate funding, and poor infrastructure as major obstacles to their productivity.

 

They decried poor budgetary allocation to Agriculture at both federal and state levels in Nigeria which they observed, have continued to fall far short of the 10% Malabo declaration for the Agriculture sector.

 

They also suggested ways in which government and other stakeholders could support them, including providing access to affordable credit, improving rural infrastructure, and promoting agricultural extension services, urging the government to recognize agroecology as a sustainable model for rural development and food sovereignty.

 

Presenting the review of the Budget earlier, the resource person at the event, a member of the BCG, Lorieth Nwafor, decried the fall in budgetary allocation to Agriculture in the states 2025 budget, stressing also that the quarterly agriculture budget performance so far has remained poor.

 

“The decline in total budgetary allocation to Agriculture from 4.1 percent in 2024 to only 1.5 percent in 2025, a drop of 2.6 percent seems to me an indication of state government’s low commitment to Agriculture.

 

“And there is urgent need to change the narratives by increasing investment in Agriculture,” Nwafor stressed.