What Role can Agricultural Extension and Advisory Services play in realizing gender equality and improved nutrition.
My View
Knowledge is POWER and Technology is key to improve quality and minimize cost. Improved quality brought about by innovation can open doors for profit maximization which would create room for development for the farmer and boost the economy. Thereby upgrading the female farmer and empowering her to produce more quality agric materials.
We know that Nigerian women comprise the largest percentage of workforce in the agric sector (agronigeria.com.ng). And their income level is lower than men due to poor access to facilities, gender gap and the required support required for them to access land and cultivate larger portions using technology and subsidized farm inputs.
And in Africa the case isn't different, but lack of access to fertilizer, training, funds and labour have made it impossible for Women to match up to Men in same self field on the food production and processing chain.
Extension and advisory services would not only create room for empowerment for Women (gender equality) but also increase the yield and quality of agric materials produced by these Women and other smallholder farms.
A publication from worldbank.org makes us understand that Women provide 60-80 percent of the labor on farms in some countries although the world percentage is quoted to be lower than 50%. I know that 80% of farm products in Nigeria are transported from farm settlements to markets by Women, who go through the stress of bringing agric materials to the market. whereby some have to sit on open trucks for hours, sleep over in odd places and sit by the road under the sun while the drivers fix the battered fully loaded trucks. In some cases they get to the market with half spoilt goods. In other words they undertake 60-90% of agricultural marketing as noted by agronigeria.com.ng
Extension and advisory services can inform women about opportunity open for farmland ownership, ease of access to funds for dry season farming, educate them on the formation of clusters and cooperatives that would enable them access government subsidized seeds, manure, pesticides, fertilizers etc.
Extension and Advisory service agents can also make them understand that they can increase their income if the employ labour and increase there production using best methods to ensure increased yield. They would educated them on how Cooperative and clusters, information on new farming methodologies and harvest/storage techniques matched with same focus and commitment used overtime would increase the quantity and improve the quality of agric materials that would be produced by them and attract international firms and open channels for off takers.
In addition Extension and advisory services would encourage women to invest in agriculture, we must note that the more funds available to poor farmers and other stake holders in the agric sector the better the yield and the better the storage facilities amongst others.
A number of farmers still do not know about new varieties of seeds (improved seeds), they do not understand know that government initiatives have been setup to curb poor harvest and reduce farm production costs. A lot of women still use obsolete methods to process palm oil, when we have lots of funds specially set aside to support Women in agriculture but lack of knowhow and methods to apply and access these funds have made Women unable to match Men in terms of yield. Extension and Advisory services would go a long way to curb these issues and improve nutrition by informing them of open channels for match their numbers with output.
Furthermore Extension and Advisory services should setup workshops, seminars, trainings and boot camps to educate Women on how to carry out online sales, how to have groups in various settlements, how to access labour, farm support solutions (rent tractors for clearing, use cultivators/plows/ridges to carry out pre planting operations), improved variety of seeds, fertilizer and connect with major firms for off-taker agreements.
- Imperative to note that the desire to educate the Women is good but the patience and tact to listen to them, understand their challenges and proffer solutions is much more important and the task is on the shoulders of Extension and Advisory Service Agents.
Also we must note that the challenge of youth participation in agriculture is one that needs fool prove correction approach, 80% of agric materials produced in Africa comes from small holder farms, most of these farms are managed by Women. Educating and empowering this Women would improve and increase yield. The average age of farmers in Africa is currently pegged at 60years despite the fact that fact 60% of Africa's population is under 24years of age (www.un.org). The Extension and Advisory Service Agents need to have prepare to encourage and educate the youths, In Nigeria for example children of farmers now work as commercial bike riders and hawkers in major towns, farming settlements are grossly depopulated, the old time farmers need to be taught new methods, serious and energetic youth farmers need to be supported, young stars need to be taught the benefits of pursuing a career in Agriculture at an early stage and food processing should be made more lucrative for local investors by improving road networks to farms, improving power supply to agro processing firms, providing funds and know how for waste recycling etc.
A lot needs to be done to realize gender equality and improve nutrition and the steps stated above can go a long way to kick start the process and sustain it.
Akinremi Julian
Agripreneur, Food, Agricultural and Environmental Engineer, Agribusiness Consultant
CEO Fourteen Farms
Akinremi Julian