On 21 October 2026, Vanguard reported a call by stakeholders for governments at all levels to make women farmers active drivers of agricultural interventions, not merely beneficiaries, as one way of closing Nigeria’s food gap. SWEDIWorld’s Founder and Executive Director, Sewuese Asa, was among those who spoke.

What SWEDIWorld said

Describing the exclusion of women farmers as an obstacle to food security, Sewuese Asa said that “Nigeria cannot close its food gap while leaving women farmers at the margins of agricultural interventions”. She stressed that “this is not a gap in ability. It is a gap in access”, and identified four major constraints:

• limited land ownership,
• inadequate inputs,
• weak extension services, and
• underrepresentation in agricultural leadership.

She urged governments to implement the revised National Gender Policy on Agrifood Systems, with clear targets and adequate funding.

Sharing the feature on LinkedIn, she added: “We cannot talk about food security without addressing the inequalities that limit women’s access to land, finance, agricultural inputs, technology and decision-making opportunities. Women farmers are already contributing to food production and sustaining households. What they need is fair access to resources, meaningful representation and agricultural policies that recognise their contribution.”

The wider conversation

Other stakeholders quoted in the report included the All Farmers Association of Nigeria, DeBranch Farmers Limited, JetFarms and D’More Food & Spices, and ActionAid Nigeria, who called for interventions that reach women at scale, measure economic outcomes, and expand access to irrigation, mechanisation, storage, processing, land and finance.

Read the full report on the Vanguard website: “Make women farmers drivers of agric interventions to close food gap — Stakeholders” (Vanguard, 21 October 2026, also in the AgroBiz section, page 10 of the print edition).

SWEDIWorld’s founder, Sewuese Asa, took part as a civil society observer in the Green Climate Fund (GCF) Regional Dialogue with West and Central Africa in Accra, Ghana, from 29 September to 2 October 2026.

The Nigerian delegation included colleagues from the National Council on Climate Change, Nigeria’s National Designated Authority, the Federal Ministry of Finance, NIRSAL, the Development Bank of Nigeria, the Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority, the Global Green Growth Institute and civil society. She also joined colleagues from the GCF Observer Network of Civil Society, Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities.

A good idea is not automatically a good investment

In a project clinic, participants examined a proposed solar irrigation project for farmers. It sounded promising, but the questions went deeper: Is there enough water? What are the climate risks? What is the baseline? Is there a market? Can farmers repay the financing? What preparation is still needed? The exercise changed the way SWEDIWorld looks at projects: a good development idea is not automatically a good investment, and the solution cannot come before understanding the problem, the evidence and the barrier.

Keeping communities at the centre

Consultation is valuable, but civil society’s role should go beyond being consulted. SWEDIWorld will keep asking: Who is vulnerable? Where is the evidence? Who participated? Who benefits? Are women and local communities meaningfully included? Who is accountable? And what happens at the last mile?

The discussions on agriculture showed why attention must go beyond production to climate information, water, processing, post-harvest losses, markets and access to finance. Conversations on fragile and conflict-affected communities were a reminder that investments must respond to the realities in which people live.

These lessons will be carried into SWEDIWorld’s work with women smallholder farmers, community water security and resilience, and women and girls as agents of climate action.

She later wrote that the dialogue was “an important opportunity to engage with climate finance stakeholders, exchange perspectives, and strengthen connections around climate action”, and shared the GCF Africa Region Director’s reflections on country ownership and inclusive climate finance.

“Engaging in climate policy spaces while working directly with women, girls and grassroots communities has been one of the most rewarding parts of my journey,” she wrote afterwards, “reminding me that meaningful climate action must connect policy with the realities of the communities it is meant to serve.”