Women farmers protest in Nasarawa, demand govt’s support

Women farmers in Nasarawa State on Thursday held a protest across 13 local government areas of the state over what they termed alleged government neglect and lack of support.

The women, under the aegis of Support Small-scale Women Farmers of Nigeria, were armed with placards with different inscriptions such as ‘Include women famers in budget to avoid hunger’, ‘Prioritise agric budget’, and ‘Gender equality in agriculture’.

The women who held their own protest at the state capital, Lafia, trekked over two kilometres to the state government secretariat where they presented a letter containing their requests to the officials of the state Ministry of Agriculture and Water Resources.

The National Coordinator of the group, Mrs Safiya Yahaya, explained that they were at the ministry “to first start their advocacy with state ministry of agriculture by submitting their demands to the Ministry of Agriculture and Water Resources.”

According to her, government should support the women by providing them with enough farm tools such as “improved seeds and seedlings, power tillers, tractors, thrashers and fertilizers.”