The Executive Director of the organisation, Dr Abiola Akiyode-Afolabi, made the call, Tuesday, when she led a delegation on a visit to the ministry of women affairs and social development in Abuja.

She said women farmers have limited access to credit facilities, farm inputs, training technology and crop insurance, compared to their male counterparts in the country, lamenting that they owned only about 10 percent on the lands on which the farm.

She said: “Women are still struggling to be heard on issues affecting them directly. There is little or no involvement of small holder women farmers in local, states and national decision making and policy issues in agric sector.”  She said WARDC has launched a USAID supported project called Women Lead Agric to support small holder women farmers in organising for leadership and voice accountability in the agricultural sector.

While urging government to work with women to halve poverty, mitigate and adapt to the effect of climate change, Akiyode-Afolabi said there was need to holistically address the gender gap in the agricultural sector.

Responding, the permanent secretary of the women ministry, Dr Ezekiel Oyemomi, said chief among the tools used in poverty eradication was agriculture, adding that the ministry was collaboration with the ministry of agric and water resources to help women farmers.   He urged the organisation to ensure that its project reached women at the grassroots.