Stakeholders Move To Develop Inclusive Agricultural Land Access Policy In Kano

Stakeholders in Kano State have begun moves to develop an inclusive agricultural land access policy to address barriers preventing women, youths and persons with disabilities from acquiring farmland.

The stakeholders reached the resolution at a one-day policy roundtable on sustainable access to farmland for women and youths, organised under the Resilient and Inclusive Agrifood Systems Empowering (RISE) Women and Youth in Nigeria project.

The RISE project is being implemented in Kano, Kaduna and Bauchi states by Sahel Consulting Agriculture and Nutrition Limited, in collaboration with the Federation of Muslim Women’s Associations in Nigeria and other partners.

Speaking at the event, Emmanuel Ahmed, an agronomist with Sahel Consulting, said the initiative was designed to identify and address systemic barriers that limit the participation of women and youth in agriculture.

Ahmed said an integrated market systems assessment conducted before the project’s commencement had revealed gaps in access to farmland, agricultural inputs, finance, extension services, and markets.

He disclosed that about 260 stakeholders, including farmers, women and government officials, were consulted across the three states during the assessment.

According to him, the RISE project, which commenced in 2025 and will run until 2030, targets about 12,500 smallholder farmers and seeks to create approximately 8,000 jobs for women and youths.

Ahmed noted that women constituted between 60 and 80 per cent of the agricultural workforce but remained largely excluded from critical decision-making processes.

He also identified inadequate extension services as a major challenge, saying there was only one extension worker for every 3,000 farmers.

The Director of Extension Services at the Kano Agricultural and Rural Development Authority (KNARDA), Aminu Ibrahim, said the roundtable had increased awareness among farmers and other stakeholders about women’s rights and access to agricultural land.

Ibrahim said KNARDA would incorporate land-access education into its extension activities through its Women in Agriculture programme.

He disclosed that the agency had 2,442 extension workers, including about 250 women, adding that the number of female extension personnel remained inadequate.

Also speaking, an Assistant Director at the Kano State Ministry of Women Affairs, Children and People with Special Needs, Samira Kura, said the ministry had registered more than 1,000 women’s cooperative groups.

Kura said the ministry would intensify sensitisation on farmland access while addressing challenges relating to funding and information on available agricultural land.