Association wants women to get 60 per cent of farmlands as inheritance

The Nigerian Association of Women in Agriculture (NAWIA) has called on the three tiers of government to allow women inherit 60 per cent of farmlands for agricultural purposes.

The NAWIA National President, Mrs Ngazin Chahul, made the plea while on advocacy visit to Mr Luka Kefas, Director of Technical Services, Plateau Agricultural and Development Programme (PADP) in Jos.

According to her, if women own farmlands as inheritance, it will go a long way in boosting agricultural activities in the state.

“Today, women seem to be more interested in agriculture than men; today women do a lot of farming activities than men.

“So, I feel if women can be given 60 per cent of land as inheritance, it will go a long way to boost agricultural activities in Plateau and Nigeria.

“We are not saying give them the lands to build houses, but the purpose should be solely for farming.

“We have tried this in Benue, and its already working in some parts of the state,’’ she said.

In his response, Kefas said that this request was noble and should be given due attention.

According to him, over 90 per cent of Plateau women are farmers and if given lands to farm, the gesture will bring great improvement to the agricultural sector in the state.

“More than 90 per cent of our women are farmers; they are deeply involved in both the upland and lowland agricultural activities.

“Though the issue of inheritance is traditional, but we shall ensure the needed awareness is created so that our women can begin to own lands for farming purposes,’’ Kefas said