The contracting out of agricultural support services
has had a positive impact in helping women farmers.
This extension approach, now known as the
Smallholder Support Services Expansion Project, has supported many women
farmers in the provinces.
President of the PNG Women in Agricultural
Development Foundation, Maria Linibi, highlighted the success of the
project at the International Conference on Innovations in Extension and
Advisory Services held in Nairobi, Kenya, last week.
Linibi was one of the keynote speakers and
presented her paper 'Innovations in Extension and Advisory Services: Mobilising
Women Farmers and Making a Difference to Food and Livelihoods'
to over 400 delegates from all over the world.
The SSSEP was first piloted in the Eastern Highlands
and Morobe provinces by the Department of Agriculture and Livestock and one of
its objectives was to address the constraints faced by the women farmers in
accessing and receiving agricultural services and extension support.
Linibi said that the concept had spread to other
provinces and the PNGWIADF has taken it on board to assist women in
disadvantaged rural areas.
She said donor agencies and non-government
organizstions have provided support to PNGWIADF in facilitating support
services to women farmers.
PNGWIADF is a
voice for the women and advocates for more participation of women in
agricultural development.
It encourages women from all fields to share their
knowledge and skills to support other women.
The foundation assists the womenin implementing
their agricultural activitiesaimed at improving livelihoods, income generation,
improving food security, addressing non-employment of youths and women and
gender and HIV/AIDS.
“We are helping women or empowering women by
building their capacity, training them, linking them to funding sources, developing
their business skills, and facilitating knowledge sharing and learning.," Linibi said.
"Capacity building is conducted with the support ofs everal national and international
research and development organisations.”
The agricultural extension services are ineffective,
considering that about 85% of the population isd ependent on agriculture for
their livelihood in the rural areas of the country.
However, the introduction of the pilot project to
test a new approach which focused on contracting out of support services has
created many new opportunities, and PNGWIAB is one farmer group that is
utilising the methodology to help the women.
Linibi said as a result, increasing numbers of women smallholder farmers have
received some form of support in a range of activities including food security,
livestock, nutrition, food processing, floriculture, animal husbandry, basic
bookkeeping, credit and others.
Women farmers have also organised themselves
into groups under the PNGWIAF umbrella and can have access to and network with
national, regional and international partners.
“Local
service providers in the form of expert farmers are readily available and have
demonstrated competence in training other local farmers in improved production
practices,” Linibi said.
She said a
database for women farmers had also been created, linking women to policy, research,donor
partners and other stakeholders.
Linibi told the conference that the
extension concept had worked well in PNG and suggested that other countries
should try this system.
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