Ikot Ebo Women Decry Lack Of Access To Financing, Extension Support For Farming

… Seeks Govt Assistance To Aid Commercial Farming 
By Bassey Nkponam 
ETINAN
Women of Ikot Ebo community have decried their lack of access to financing, mechanisation, improved seedlings, and extension support, soliciting government assistance to enable them engage in commercial farming.
The women made the appeal on Wednesday, during the sensitisation meeting for community farmers, especially women farmers on the opportunities within agriculture and food security in Akwa Ibom, organised by a non-governmental organisation, Women United for Economic Empowerment, WUEE, at the community hall, Ikot Ebo in Etinan Local Government Area, on the project titled, “Persistent and systemic marginalisation of women farmers in Akwa Ibom from agricultural services, productive resources, financing systems, and decision-making structures that directly influence their productivity and livelihoods. 
At the event sponsored by Urgent Action Fund (UAF)-Africa, women complained of lack of access to improved seedlings, mechanisation, financing, and extension support, and sought for government assistance in those directions.
The women, attributed their inability to engage in commercial farming to lack of funds, large expanse of land, lack of farm tools such as tractors, lack of access to loan facility, farm inputs such as seedlings, fertilizer and other farming services. 
Participants recalled that though government in most cases provides community farmers with fertilizer, improved seedlings and other services, these items are not usually given to the real farmers in the community, appealing to government to provide community farmers with fertilizer and umbrella for water leaves farmers, funds for purchase of piggery feeds, as well as farm equipment to aid commercial production.
The project officer, WUEE, Mr Joshua Nya, noted that the systemic marginalisation of women farmers in Akwa Ibom was rooted in long-standing cultural, legal, and institutional patterns that have historically limited women’s economic participation in rural Nigeria.
Nya observed that though women form a substantial share of the agricultural workforce in the state, they face persistent structural barriers and operate at the margins of policies and programmes designed to improve food production and rural prosperity.
This challenge according to him, has become particularly urgent following the establishment and inauguration of the Agriculture and Food Security Committee by Governor Umo Eno in the State last year to boost food production, stabilise prices, coordinate agricultural interventions, and strengthen initiatives such as the Tree Crop Revolution. 
Nya maintained that when women lack access to improved seedlings, mechanisation, financing, and extension support, yields remain low, thereby translating into reduced household income, higher vulnerability to poverty, and unstable local food supply. 
He said excluding women undermines economic efficiency, adding that if a large proportion of the agricultural workforce operates below potential, the state’s overall productivity goals cannot be achieved. 
According to Nya, the marginalisation of women perpetuates intergenerational inequality as limited income reduces investment in children’s education and health, reinforcing cycles of poverty in rural communities, and if nothing is done, several consequences were likely to occur.
The project officer said the project, which targets community farmers from Ini, Okobo and Etinan Local Government Areas, with one community each selected from the three areas as pilot communities, aimed at promoting structured inclusion of women farmers in agricultural planning, service delivery, financing access, and decision-making platforms.
Nya stated that by strengthening institutional responsiveness and amplifying women’s participation, the intervention intends to enhance productivity, livelihoods, and contribute meaningfully to the state’s broader food security and socio-economic development objectives.
Giving a brief introduction of WUEE, Mrs Mfon Esua, said established as a grassroot organization in 2002 with targets on women, men, children as well as People Living With Disabilities (PLWDs), WUEE has worked with international organisations like Management Science for Health (MSH), Centre for Clinical Care and Research in Nigeria (CCCRN), Akwa Ibom State Agency for Control of AIDS (AKSACA), Envirofit, Actionaid, among others.