Women farmers in Kaduna State on Saturday urged the state government to provide them with credit facilities to enhance food production.
Mrs Agera Liti, Coordinator, Small Scale Women Farmers Origination in Nigeria, made the appeal at a two-day capacity building workshop for women farmers, held in Kaduna.
NAN reports that the workshop was funded by Action Aid, and Trust Africa, as part of the Malabo Declaration to boost food and security in Africa.
Liti said the government should open a credit line at single digit interest rate and remove conditions that require collateral and guarantors, to make farming gender friendly.
“We need processing and packaging equipment, and facilities should be provided for small holder women farmers.
“The government should also provide silos, dryers and other facilities to control post–harvest losses for small holder women farmers.”
The coordinator canvassed that government budget process should be open, to encourage participation of women farmers in its planning and implementation.
She said that seven unions comprising over 9,000 women under the group were engaged in crop, fish, poultry and livestock farming in the state.
She said the two-day training would boost cooperative group management and increase the production skills of women.
Mr Dauda Ashafa, Programme Manager, Kaduna State Agricultural Development Project, said the government was committed to upgrading the standard of farming by women in the state.
Ashafa urged women and youth to form cooperative groups, so as to benefit from various packages introduced by the government to promote agricultural production, processing, packaging and marketing.
Ashafa, who was represented by Mrs Deborah Yusuf, Head of Women in Agriculture unit in the Agency, advised the group to tap into the Anchor Borrowers Scheme supported by Central Bank of Nigeria and Bank of Agriculture.
He said that the Agency had registered 75 farmers cooperative groups benefitting from its various programmes. (NAN)