Overall Goal of the Project: Strengthen existing and emerging women mobilization platforms and small holder women farmers associations for sustainable organizing for change and policy influencing in Agricultural sector.

Geographic Coverage: Benue, Enugu, Kwara and Osun States

Small holder women farmers constitute about 70 percent of Agric labour force but they lack access to Agric input and finance and have only 14 percent holding rights on the land where they farm. Their issues are not prioritized in policy formulation neither are they participating or adequately represented in decision making in the Agricultural sector. The key contextual factors militating against Small holder women farmers’ inclusion in the Agric sector in Nigeria include.

Several policies and programmes have been initiated by past governments at the state and national levels but priority has often neglect the role and contributions of women in the sector. The small budget allocation to the sector compared the huge percentage of the population in the sector also seems to have worsen the precarious condition of women farmers. The lack of structure for policy engagement by women farmers and the lack of skill for sustainable organizing is also a challenge for women to maximally benefit in Agric policies and programmes in Nigeria.

This model project “Women Lead Agric in Nigeria” employs interwoven strategies such as Capacity building, Policy engagement and public awareness to facilitate gender accountability, transparency, good governance and change in the Agricultural sector for development result.

Hence the project goal is “Increased women mobilization platforms and small holder women farmers association for sustainable organizing for change and policy influencing in the Agric sector

Objectives

1. Strengthen the capacity of Small holder women farmers group to engage policy makers to demand for gender accountability in the agric sector
2. Improve the skills of small holder women farmers to organize and engage policy makers for gender mainstreaming in the Agric sector
3. Increase public awareness on the role and contribution of women to the agric sector and the gender implications of Agric policies and programmes.

– See more at: http://www.wardc.org/overall-goal-of-the-project-strengthen-existing-and-emerging-women-mobilization-platforms-and-small-holder-women-farmers-associations-for-sustainable-organizing-for-change-and-policy-influencing-in-a/#sthash.unseFOC2.dpuf