By Hajara Usman
The Small-scale Woman Farmers Organisation of Nigeria (SWOFON) has called on the government of Gombe State to endeavor to provide organic fertilisers rather than the inorganic types for this rainy season.
SWOFAN made the call in a press release signed by its state coordinator
Airudia Mamman on the Gombe State 2024 Agriculture Budget Analysis conducted by the organisation in collaboration with Gombe State Budget Committee Group (BCG).
The organisation also charged the government to ensure full and timely release of funds to purchase the needed inputs and made available to farmers.
“The subsidized fertilizer should be sold at reasonable and affordable rates to smallholder women farmers.
“Small-scale women farmers play a crucial role in ensuring food security and economic development in Gombe State and Nigeria as a whole; it is in this regard that the Gombe State Government created a budget line for the support of small holder women farmers (SWOFON) with an allocation of N50 million in the 2024 budget.”, the statement reads.
SWOFAN however lamented that the allocation is 28% less than that of 2023 which was N70 million and also complained on lack of provision for agricultural credit for farmers in the budget.
“We call on Gombe State Ministry of Agriculture to create a yearly Strengthening Access to Credit budget line to support women, youths and farmers living with disability cooperatives to be able to navigate the too cumbersome access to credit in Nigeria.”
This is just as they observed that 2024 agriculture budget for Gombe State is 4.0% of the total State Budget less than the 10% benchmark of the Maputo declaration.
