Women farmers in the nation’s capital have asked the federal government to end the reign of insecurity across the country, so as to allow more people venture into farming and ensure food security in Nigeria.
The women referred to as  “Ogbonge Women,” or “excellent women ” for their resilence, pointed that women no longer go to their farms anymore because of fear of being attacked by herdsmen.
Leader of the group, Mrs. Felicia Nkiruka, in an interview conducted on the sidelines of the World Food Day commemoration in Abuja, said that government has to guarantee adequate security and also provide agricultural equipment to support female farmers in Abuja.
She continued, “As we are farming, we are facing many challenges. That’s why we are calling on the federal government to help us contain herdsmen activities on our farm lands.”
“The Fulani herdsmen, don’t allow us to farm again and they are killing our farmers and it had led to the increase in food price because few of us that have the courage to farm, don’t farm much. How I wish the government can take care of the insecurity in the country and provide agricultural equipment for mechanical farming so that we can be able to produce enough food to feed the nation”, She concluded.
The Ogbonge Women Farmers Association commended Oxfam, Nigeria, for empowering them with access to resources aimed at enhancing agricultural productivity for small holder farmers and pastoralists within the FCT.
The theme of the 2023 World Food Day, which is, ‘Water is Life, Water is Food. Leave No One Behind’, is aimed at highlighting the critical role of water for life on earth and water as the foundation of our food.
It also seeks to raise global awareness about the importance of managing water wisely as rapid population growth, economic development, urbanization, and climate change threaten water availability.
The World Food Day celebration is a program of the United Nations which usually takes place annually on 16 October and promotes awareness on hunger and action for the future of food, people, and the planet.
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN (FAO) designated 16 October as World Food Day in 1979.
According to her, Oxfam has been instrumental in the area of seed distribution and other agricultural equipment.
In her words: “As the world is celebrating food day, we, the Ogbonge Women Farmers Association in Abuja, want to thank Oxfam for their support in providing us with what we need to farm.
“They have been instrumental in the area of seed distribution to our women, educating them on the best way to have bumper harvest after the farming season and they have also distributed water mashing to our women and all these have made farming easy”
“As far as our country Nigeria is concerned, it is only farming that will upgrade our nation because if anybody is waiting for white collar job, they won’t get it anywhere because there are no jobs but through farming, we can feed the whole nation.
In the same vein, another group leader of Small Scale Farmers Association of Nigeria, while expressing gratitude to Oxfam for their support in Abuja, said the training they have received from Oxfam had been helpful to the association.
“Oxfam, through its Action Aid program, has trained us in understanding organic methods, which is the best agricultural practice, rather than engaging in inorganic farming and this training has helped many women in our association to effectively manage their farms,”she said.
