WIMA to provide mechanisation services for 1m women farmers

The Women in Mechanised Agriculture (WIMA) has unveiled plans to provide mechanization services to one million women farmers across Nigeria by 2030.

Speaking at the official launch of WIMA in Abuja, the organization’s President, Aisha Yakubu Bako, said the initiative aims to transform food systems, improve household incomes, enhance climate resilience, and national productivity through inclusive access to agricultural technologies.

She said, “Our plan is to build a future where no woman is too rural, too poor, or too marginalized to access technology, finance, and opportunity.”

Going down memory lane, Bako disclosed that the organisation started in 2019 with about 6 women who decided to provide mechanization services targeted at women at the bottom of the pyramid.

She outlined WIMA’s four strategic pillars, including capacity building, access to mechanization services and assets, policy and advocacy, and market linkages.

She explained that WIMA has been equipping women with skills to operate tractors, harvesters, threshers, and other machinery, as well as provide mobile-based learning platforms and mechanization toolkits, in partnership with initiatives such as TrackTrack.

She stated that through its cooperative model, and with support from partners like PropCom Plus, WIMA has established 12 solar-powered mechanization service hubs across the country, adding that these centers provide services to women in hard-to-reach areas, using renewable-energy-powered equipment such as threshers and water pumps.

To bridge the urban-rural divide, she said WIMA also facilitates market linkages, allowing women in urban areas to invest in mechanization tools and partner with rural service providers through a cost-sharing model.

Bako, however, called for increased support from government, financial institutions, donor agencies, among others, saying, “When women rise, food systems rise. When women mechanize, productivity scales. And when women are involved in decision-making, nations prosper.

Also speaking, the Chairperson Board of Trustees, WIMA, Dr Aisha Umar, raised concerns over the increasing marginalization of women farmers in access to mechanization services across the country.

Speaking during the formal launch of the WIMA initiative in Abuja, Dr. Umar said the programme seeks to collaborate with donor agencies, the private sector, government, and commercial banks to provide mechanization support to women in agriculture.

“The initiative started with just six women. We recognized a glaring gap in the agricultural sector—particularly the exclusion of women from finance and mechanization,” she said.

Umar lamented that many women farmers still rely on crude tools such as hoes and cutlasses for farming due to a lack of access to mechanized equipment.

“Our aim is to bridge this gap by providing mechanization services to women farmers to help them increase productivity and improve their livelihoods,” she stated.

She revealed that in some of the states where WIMA is currently operating, mechanization hubs have been established to give women access to equipment such as tractors, harvesters, threshers, and other tools tailored to their specific needs.

“We also intend to deploy technology to enhance women’s agricultural output and overall welfare,” Dr. Umar added.

According to her, WIMA has so far reached about 300 women in Katchia Local Government Area of Kaduna State, with plans underway to expand the initiative across Nigeria and eventually throughout Africa