By Queen Kunde
Women farmers in Taraba State, North East Nigeria under the auspices of Small Scale Women Farmers Organization in Nigeria (SWOFON) have, significantly returned their hoes to the museum to pave way for mechanized farming.
The women farmers while returning their hoes to the museum in Jalingo, the State Capital said they were tired of using the hoes on their farms.
Speaking at the event, the National President of SWOFON, Mrs Mary Afan who was represented by one of her National officer, Mrs Hannatu Soni said the use of hoe in the farm is no longer productive and sustainable.
She said the growing population has increased the number of those who depend on Nigerian farmers for food hence the need to mechanise their farming activities for better yield.
“Over the years, for farming, we have been using this hoe to feed the nation, we were not this many but now, you can see how the population is increasing , such that we can no longer use this hoe to feed the nation”.
“So, what we have come to do today is to retire these hoes to the museum knowing fully well that this is a place where artefacts are kept so that our children, grandchildren, the generation unborn will come and see it, and know that this is what their parents were using to produce food,” she said.
Mrs. Afan urged the government to as a matter of urgency, provide the women with mechanized farm implements as they have dropped their hoes so that they can return to their farms.
“Now that we have done this today, we want to talk to our government, since we are the ones feeding the nation, we have retired the hoes to the museum, by tomorrow, we want mechanized implements.
“So, we want the government at all levels to give us women-friendly equipment that will save our energy and time we spend on the farm.
“We no longer want to see these hoes in the hands of women. It makes us suffer, it makes us grow old, it makes us have a low yield in our farms,” she lamented.
Receiving the women, the curator National museum, Jalingo, Mrs. Christy Fada Gundiri who thanked them for contributing to the enrichment of the historical monument explained that their gesture will enable children even those yet unborn to get to know about the old methods their mothers used in contributing to national development, joined the call for the government to provide enabling environment for farmers to strive.
“Today will go down in history, as you are the first group to donate artifacts to this museum, however let me acknowledge your efforts for having endured all the hardship, using hoe to cultivate the food that has feed us as a Nation, it is time to move forward, and in moving forward, technology has made it easy for us, it is for us as a government to create enabling environment for you to strive,” she said.
She said the enabling environment includes the provision of fertilizer, machines for the women farmers to use in their farms.
To press home their demands members of SWOFON Taraba State held a town hall meeting to interface with relevant key stakeholders in the Agricultural sector in order to draw commitments on how small holder women farmers can be supported to change to the mechanized farming system.
In a welcome address, Chairperson of SWOFON Taraba State, Mrs. Washuku Aji who enumerated the various strides the organization has attained since inception in the State appealed to the duty bearers to support women farmers to produce more food to feed the State and the Nation at large
“we are grateful for the support given to us by the government, but like oliver twist, we are asking that more should be done to support us, more so that we have returned the hoes to the archives, that is to tell you all that we are tired of that old, crude method that can no longer aid us to produce enough to feed us, let alone sell to those who depend on us for food.
Stakeholders who includes top government functionaries heads of corporate institutions, Civil Society organisations were on hand to lend their voice to this call by the women farmers to be urgently supported with modern farming tools.