ASSAPIN
The Association of Small-Scale Agro-Producers in Nigeria (ASSAPIN) was formally inaugurated in April 2010 to mobilise and facilitate support for small-scale farmers, promote increased investment in agriculture, influence and encourage favourable environment and promote women empowerment in agriculture, its processes, institution and governance. The clear mandate of the network is to organize and mobilize small-scale farmers for actions to hold government accountable to their obligations to Nigerian farmers by acting as the mouthpiece of the small-scale farmer. The voices of the small-scale farmers have for long been and are still neglected in agricultural policy formulation and in interventions geared towards addressing their needs and aspirations. The coming into being of the democratic system of governance was expected to provide the opportunity for the voices of the small-scale farmers to be heard. It is in light of this that ASSAPIN was formed, to help push the agenda of ensuring the agricultural policy process is actually inclusive and takes into consideration the needs and aspiration of the small-scale farmers
The existing challenges of small-scale farmers in accessing and benefiting from the government agricultural policies and practices, yet Small-Scale farmers are the overwhelming majority of farmers in the country, accounting for over 80%, but because they are scattered and isolated, they have faced marginalization, exclusion and disempowerment over time.
Women and households headed solely by women are often the most chronically poor groups within rural communities
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The various peoples who make up present day Nigeria organized into many different states and empires in pre-colonial times established through agriculture-based economies. This continued into the colonial period during which agriculture further provided the basis for trade, commerce and emerging industries both in Nigeria, the colonized country and in the UK, the colonizing country.
During this period, particularly in the colonial and immediate post-independence period, the country was not only self-sufficient in food production; it was also a net exporter of cash crops which formed the basis of a buoyant and thriving national economy. In fact, cash crops such as palm fruits/oil, cocoa and groundnuts emerged as the leading foreign exchange earners to the regions that produced them and it was from the proceeds of these crops that infrastructures were built in major emerging cities across the country.