By: Catherine Ahiador:
The call by farmers in the northern part of the country for more female extension officers has raised some interesting perspectives in the farming sector. But adding his voice to the issue, Mr. Ibrahim Musah who is the 2015 national best farmer argued on his on Rite FM’s Agric Forum that in as much as more female extension officers were required, he had already made the worrying observation that even the available female extension officers were so reluctant when it came to field and practical work.
‘Most of them have limited themselves to the offices, a situation which must not be so,’ Mr. Musah argued. He however urged the authorities in charge of the extension services to make sure that the job demands of the female farmers are addressed in order to encourage them join their counterparts to work hand in hand with the farmers on their farms.
Mr. Ibrahim said that the female extension officials should have it in mind that they had the same training with their male colleagues which mandates all of them to work on the fields and not the office work being reserved for the women.
He also emphasized that the request made by the female farmers is a challenge to the female officers to begin supervision on the farms, adding that this would help reduce jealousy on the part of men whose wives are farmers as there would be more female extension workers to work with female farmers instead of male officers.
Source: ritefmonline.org
