Support female farmers – Shiweda
Deputy agriculture minister Anna Shiweda has underlined that supporting female farmers is key to eradicating hunger and poverty in the country.
Shiweda, who was speaking at the opening of the Oshikuku agriculture and training expo on Thursday.
She said it is necessary that adequate assistance and care be given to female farmers as a way of empowering them, in addition to creating a supportive environment for them to intensify their agricultural production, processing, value addition, and marketing activities.
"If women farmers had the same access to productive resources as men, they could increase yields on their farms by 20 to 30 percent and lift millions of people out of hunger," she said.
Led by women
Shiweda said smallholder agriculture is one of the principal economic occupations in the world and the main source of income and employment for 70% of the world’s poor who live in rural areas, of which the majority are women.
"It is also well documented that 80% of food in the world in value terms is produced by small-scale family farms, and women are key to the success of those farms as they comprise on average, 43% of the agricultural labour force," she said.
Shiweda said despite their role and contribution to farming, small-scale farming in particular, female farmers encounter many challenges, ranging from their limited access to technology, inputs, credit, market infrastructure, and most importantly, access to land, "which is one of the most indispensable factors of agricultural production," she said.
"Above all the challenges, these farmers also experience the negative impact of climate change and climate variability, which is one of the main threats to the sustainability of agricultural production. These challenges need to be addressed as a matter of urgency to enable small-scale farmers, especially women, to intensify food production in order to ensure world food security," she said.
Limited resources
Shiweda said agriculture is the future - a business that never expires.
However, she said that despite their contribution to farming, small-scale farmers, in particular female farmers, encounter a lot of challenges.
"They face challenges such as limited access to technology, inputs, credit, market infrastructure, and, most importantly, access to land, which is one of the most indispensable factors of agricultural production," she said.
[email protected]
Shiweda, who was speaking at the opening of the Oshikuku agriculture and training expo on Thursday.
She said it is necessary that adequate assistance and care be given to female farmers as a way of empowering them, in addition to creating a supportive environment for them to intensify their agricultural production, processing, value addition, and marketing activities.
"If women farmers had the same access to productive resources as men, they could increase yields on their farms by 20 to 30 percent and lift millions of people out of hunger," she said.
Led by women
Shiweda said smallholder agriculture is one of the principal economic occupations in the world and the main source of income and employment for 70% of the world’s poor who live in rural areas, of which the majority are women.
"It is also well documented that 80% of food in the world in value terms is produced by small-scale family farms, and women are key to the success of those farms as they comprise on average, 43% of the agricultural labour force," she said.
Shiweda said despite their role and contribution to farming, small-scale farming in particular, female farmers encounter many challenges, ranging from their limited access to technology, inputs, credit, market infrastructure, and most importantly, access to land, "which is one of the most indispensable factors of agricultural production," she said.
"Above all the challenges, these farmers also experience the negative impact of climate change and climate variability, which is one of the main threats to the sustainability of agricultural production. These challenges need to be addressed as a matter of urgency to enable small-scale farmers, especially women, to intensify food production in order to ensure world food security," she said.
Limited resources
Shiweda said agriculture is the future - a business that never expires.
However, she said that despite their contribution to farming, small-scale farmers, in particular female farmers, encounter a lot of challenges.
"They face challenges such as limited access to technology, inputs, credit, market infrastructure, and, most importantly, access to land, which is one of the most indispensable factors of agricultural production," she said.
[email protected]
Comments
Namibian Sun
No comments have been left on this article