Women farmers still waiting for COVID-19 palliatives, months after president’s promise

Farmers have been affected by the Coronavirus pandemic and require assistance to prevent food shortage. EMMA ELEKWA reports that the palliatives promised by the government are yet to get to many of them.

Uche Ileka, an indigene of Umezeagu Nnewi in Anambra State, was a banker; now a happy farmer. She has her hands in poultry, cocoyam, yam and vegetable farming, through which she cares for her family and pays her children’s school fees.

She is one of the members of the Small Scale Women Farmers Organisation in Nigeria (SWOFON), Anambra branch, a group, representing over 500,000 grassroots women farmers in the country.

Ileka said her farming business would have thrived better had the government fulfilled the promise to provide incentives to women farmers engaged in the production of various foods in the state.

“No hatchery machine, no vaccination for the birds. Some of the ones we’re using are adulterated. No power supply to secure vaccines. That’s the major reason why we’re losing so many birds in the country, the issue of mortality!

“If these things were to be on the ground, I bet you, we won’t lack food in this country,” she said, stressing the devastating impact of the COVID-19 lockdown on farmers.

She agonized about her unsold poultry during Easter, and the prices of food items that continue rising.

She blamed some of the challenges facing farmers on poor roads.

“The shortest route to access this place couldn’t have taken you up to five minutes, but look at the distance you’ve covered owing to bad road. If it rains now, sorry will be our second name.”



Though she has heard about palliatives for farmers, she said she has not received any.

Despite various economic relief packages announced by the federal and state government, many women farmers said they have not received the support.

President Muhammadu Buhari had directed the implementation of a three-month repayment moratorium for all TraderMoni, MarketMoni and FarmerMoni loans to mitigate the impact of the pandemic on the small and medium scale enterprises.

He also directed that the social register of the poor “be expanded from 2.6 million households to 3.6 million households in the next two weeks” and placed a moratorium on all government-funded loans issued by the Bank of Industry, Bank of Agriculture and the Nigeria Export-Import Bank.

Buhari also announced an initiative aimed at minimizing the impact of the pandemic on the agriculture sector, directing the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, the National Security Adviser, the Vice-Chairman, National Food Security Council and the Chairman, Presidential Fertilizer Initiative to work with the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19 to ensure the impact of this pandemic on 2020 farming season was minimized.

In view of the promise, the CBN announced a credit relief package of N50 billion (about $136.6M) to businesses affected by the pandemic which the CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele said would be for households, small and medium-sized enterprises, SMEs, agriculture food chain businesses, SMEs, airline operators, service providers, hotels and healthcare merchants.

In Anambra State, the government announced the securing of 3,000 hectares of arable land in the agricultural belt of the state for large scale farming during the planting season. The governor, Willie Obiano, who said the initiative is expected to take over 2,000 youths off the labour market, added that his administration came up with a short term plan that would ensure that food supply was not adversely affected in the state after Covid-19.

“We’ve ordered the purchase of seven tractors to be deployed in the cultivation of the land. We’re empowering women and youths by providing them with cages for poultry and feedstock for birds,” he said.

Although the pandemic has largely affected their early commencement of farm clearing, farmers in the state expressed confidence of still meeting up with the bountiful harvest, especially if governments would make good their promises of providing them with the necessary palliatives.

Another farmer, Mrs. Rosemary Onwuegbuka, the SWOFON Coordinator in Ayamelum Local Government Area, who said she has been farming for over 20 years ago, cultivates cassava, yam and rice.

“Again, I’m able to engage women with the help of my assistant, convincing them to see farming as a lucrative business. Women under me can boast of two, three farmlands, depending on their strength.

I encourage them, instead of staying idle at home, they should go into farming,” she said.

She expressed frustration about her inability to recruit more hands in the business owing to financial constraints.

“I’m yet to start employing people because of a lack of incentives. If the government will take us seriously by providing us with the necessary inputs, I would have done better. You can see the vast land we have that is still fallow. We need money to clear and cultivate it. Had it been they’re giving us tractor, seedlings, fertilisers, improved varieties of cassava stems at subsidised rates, that will enable us to have enough to employ people whom we can pay.

“I’m supposed to have a Camp Manager by now so the workload will reduce. If you seek a bank loan, they will demand the Certificate of Occupancy of your shop. How can a farmer have a shop in the main market? It’s very difficult to access the loan.

“We find it difficult to employ people, instead we do what we call cluster farming. We work in someone’s farm today, tomorrow we go to another. If they assist us, with time, we’ll be exporting our rice, yam and cassava, and still have enough to sell locally.”

READ MORE: https://www.icirnigeria.org/women-farmers-still-waiting-for-covid-19-palliatives-months-after-presidents-promise/

Wen Nigerians have waited over 4yrs for him to fulfil his campaign promises.. Make dem join d queue