Encourage female yam farmers, researcher urges govt

A researcher at theNational RootsCrops Research Institute (NRCRI), Umudike, Abia State, Mrs Glory Ironkwe, has urged the federal and state governments to encourage female yam farmers to use improved varieties.Ironkwe made the appeal in her presentation at the ongoing 16th triennial symposium of the International Society for Tropical Root Crops (ISTRC) in Abeokuta, Ogun State.She said her study on the adoption of yam minisett technology in five states made her to discover that women were at a disadvantage because of their gender.The study, she said, was carried out in Abia, Anambra, Cross-River, Ebonyi and Enugu states and underscored the need for government to put in place necessary production factors in the use of yam minisett, especially for female farmers.Ironkwe, in the paper entitled, "Gender Implications for Sustainable Seed Yam Production Using Yam minisett Technology in South-Eastern Nigeria," said women yam farmers were not given appropriate attention by extension agents in the afore-mentioned areas.She said the study showed male yam farmers had better access to fertiliser, making them to over use the input on their crops.Ironkwe said the gender disadvantage suffered by the female farmers was also due to cultural beliefs entrenched in the focus areas."The belief of the people is that yam is a male crop, yam belongs to the men. So, female headed household farmers are left behind, " she said." Reports have shown that the failure of most agricultural development projects to consider gender issues in the process has resulted to low adoption and lack of sustainability of such projects,'' she said.She further recommended that awareness campaigns should be increased among female farmers to enhance their adoption of the new technology."This is because the ability to utilise appropriate agricultural technologies by farmers in developing countries like Nigeria depends mostly on the availability of production resources and accessibility of such technologies."This is often determined by the gender of clients.''Gender determines roles, priorities, problems, access to, and ownership of resources among farmers which affect their ability to use any available agricultural technologies to improve their production potentials, " Ironkwe said.She said the consideration of the female farmers in these ways would go a long way in enhancing adoption, increasing seed yam production and ensuring sustainability of the technology in the South - East zone.
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