News in brief:
– Smallholder women farmers in Abuja find agricultural extension services inadequate, impacting their productivity.
– Recommendations include increasing extension workers and budget allocations for better support and food security.
In a recent evaluation, smallholder women farmers across the area councils in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) have expressed concerns about the inadequacy of agricultural extension services provided to them.
This feedback was gathered through a community scorecard disseminated by the Smallscale Women Farmers Organization in Nigeria (SWOFON), in collaboration with ActionAid Nigeria, under the Scaling Up Public Investment in Agriculture (SUPIA) project.
The community scorecard, a participatory tool that allows community members to assess and provide feedback on public services, revealed significant gaps in the agricultural extension services available to these women farmers. It showed that these services are crucial for enhancing their farming activities and boosting food production in the FCT.
Key findings from the evaluation process
- Limited Access to Services: The report highlighted that 16.7% of the women, primarily from Abaji and Kwali area councils, were unaware of the extension services due to lack of access. This indicates a significant portion of the farming community is not receiving the support they need from government extension agents.
- Service Utility and Timeliness: Out of the 83.3% who had accessed these services in the last four years (2020-2023), only 27.8% found them useful. These services included training, provision of farm inputs, market access, and land preparation. Meanwhile, 55.5% rated the services as “fairly useful.”
- Timeliness of Services: Regarding the timeliness of these services, 66.7% of respondents considered them “somewhat timely.” However, 33.3% of respondents, including those who had not accessed the services, were unsure, as the only extension service they received was related to training on tomato processing and preservation, which was not time-bound.
The report strongly recommends increasing the number of extension workers and boosting budget allocations for these services to better support women farmers in the FCT. This could potentially improve their productivity and overall contribution to food security.
