How Can We Succeed in Our Farming Program With Roads Like These, Leading To Our Farms?

It is truly painful to see that every effort put in by farmers in order to make this sector attractive and more productive proves abortive. The questions in the minds of most persons interested in this plight faced by Edo farmers are:

1.      Why are farmers treated as outcast, even in their own motherland.

2.      Why are they made to pass through pain and agony, and still do not get any support from government?

3.      Why is malevolence always unleashed on farmers, even when it’s clear that they toil day and night to make sure there’s food in the table of everyone in our communities?.

These and many other heart throbbing questions are being asked in regard to the way(s) farmers are treated in Edo State. Why is this issue a great concern for some concerned individuals and organizations; the likes if ACFA.

It is probably because the All Cooperative Farmers Association has resolved to create an avenue where those in the grass root will be heard, noticed and assisted. They may have also conceived a rationale to inform, educate, and enlighten the people about the activities of those in the grass root. ACFA also have the ability to purchase and market all Edo Farmers produce. We also have the intent to make the general public know the level of flexibility that operates in the group. With these qualities displayed by ACFA, you will see that it’s a home for all (A Human Eucalyptus) an organization that have enough room to accommodate any individuals/groups that may find confidence in her. 

Edo Famers! Ready to Make The Expected Difference

ACFA/Hqtrs 040-Ben/ONE-Chm/01/OAC-001                                01^st December, 2013.

The Honourable Chairman,

Ovia North East Local Government Area,

Okada,

Edo State.

Dear Madam,

APPEAL TO BULLDOZE AND GRADE THE 6 KILOMETER ROAD LEADING TO ALL COOPERATIVE FARMERS ASSOCIATION FARM SETTLEMENT AT OKOKHUO

In order for us to achieve success in our bid to expand our production and to meet up with our responsibilities of closing the linkages between the government and those in the grass-root, specifically in the area of agricultural development, so that we can enhance the key institutional supports the farmers required in order to increase their yield in production and development of their produce and services, All Cooperative Farmers Association (ACFA) hereby proposed these functional plans which are believed will help to enhance residual source of income for communities with productive land for agriculture advancement.

Another reason for writing this document is to intimate the Honourable Chairman of the operation of this group in the council area, And to present an overview of the challenges and opportunities for Co-operative Farmers and youths who choose to venture into agriculture in the local government area. ACFA also wishes to use this opportunity to make recommendations that will result in encouraging other graduate youths who may have reasons to embrace agriculture as there is bright and beautiful picture designed for it. This will make the L.G.A part of the great change going on in the agricultural sector around the world today.

Structure Of The Program

This program is expected to serve as a platform to bring all determined and serious minded farmers in the L.G.A together in a way that they will be able to complement themselves in a convenient and suitable farming environment. It will also help to settle young school leavers in  a  specified  area  of  land,  making  farming  their career  thereby  preventing  them  from  moving to the urban areas in search of white collar jobs, they may never find. These settled farmers will be able to design and develop a model in good farming systems. The type that will attract other farmers residing in nearby villages. ACFA is also set up to provide effective and profitable agricultural services to all farmers in the state, by representing them appropriately. And to market/distribute fresh and original foodstuffs direct from the farm to interested customers, in our HOME service transactions.

Who Will Benefit From The Program?

The All Co-operative Farmers Association (ACFA) Youth Economic Opportunity Programming (YECOP) has increasingly been designed to reach young people in rural areas, so as to stem the tides of migration, and to reduce rural poverty. We expect this gesture to spur the youths up to embrace agricultural development program that will empower them to be boss of themselves.

The main objective of this scheme is actually to make for food sufficiency and also to supplement the unemployment situations being faced by the various governments. It is also expected to address the rampant insecurity problems being faced by the citizens of the states respectively and the nation in general. {See ACFA’s Overture; page 3}

Areas The Council Is Expected to Assist:-

The Honourable Chairman, Mrs Lucy Omagbon and the commendable council Executives are implored to kindly:

1.      Assist these cooperative farmers to facilitate the Bulldozing/Grading of the road to the co-operative farm settlement in Okokhuo government reserve given to Ovia North East Farmers, For Farming Expansion.

2.      Aid All Co-operative farmers to receive the newly improved Cassava cuttings and the complementing fertilizer assigned for Farmers in the Local Government Area. And other incentives from the state/presidency.

3.      Develop good relationship with the executives and members of All Co-operative Farmers Association, towards standardizing and modernizing the system of farming in the council area, in order to enhance success for this scheme.

The Program as an Eye Opener

ACFA Team believes that this Community Farming Scheme (CFS) will create a Spotlight on Opportunities for mainly Rural Youth. And it will highlight some of the critical issues they are facing. The women and other farmers in the rural areas will benefit from this plan; it will also address Urban/Rural migration, the roles stakeholders must play in order to involve more young people living in rural areas to have access to (formal and informal) employment and entrepreneurship opportunities, shall also be established.

This program will enable everyone to understand that if the various stakeholders in the agricultural industry support this development, they have lots to gain. Additionally, this point-up will convene a diverse group of stakeholders, ranging from youth development specialists, agricultural specialists, value chain specialists. This program will give these distinct communities of stakeholders the privilege to collectively tackle complex challenges together, often next step needed to be taken to increase the knowledge and technological advancement of the various participants/beneficiaries. While promoting a cross-sector collaboration. If this Road is eventually Bulldozed/Graded, and the ACFA Community Farming and Educational Development Program for the first time, and define (ACFEDEP) is eventually standardized, the following questions may require answers.

v  What are the innovative approaches that ACFA intends to apply, in order to increase the quality and relevance of the different types and levels of education for our rural dwellers?

v  How can young people be more effectively integrated into agricultural and other rural value chains in this scheme?

v  How is the government going to benefit from it, after the support?

v  What are some of the broad trends we observe in rural-urban migration, and what implications do those trends have for the economic opportunities young people have today and in the future?

v  How does ACFA intends to create jobs for youth in the proposed Farmers community?

v  How can different stakeholders be directly involved in the program, and what are some of the benefits they should expect?

v  What behavioural change models exist for influencing young people’s (and their families’) perceptions of agricultural work? And how will ACFA prepare youth to undertake rural livelihoods?

v  What is the appropriate role for practitioners and Policy makers in this area?

v  What approaches have proven to be effective for improving the quality/relevance and interest of agricultural extension work for youth?

v  How will this program address the insecurity problem being faced in our societies today?

v  How are young people in rural areas engaging in decision-making related to policies and programs that affect them (at the community and national level)?

v  How do/could young people use technology in order to improve their employment and entrepreneurship opportunities? And how will stakeholders support in this regard?

v  How can we help protect young people in the rural workplace (especially in terms of their health and financial safety), and help them know their rights?

v  How will ACFA Community Farming Scheme address the causes and effects of migration, especially by looking at the pull-push factors that lead many young people to move from rural areas to the urban cities ones?

Expected Benefits.
We envisage a lot of benefits once this request is granted. Farmers will be enabled in the council area to be well organized. This can only be achieved if all farmers are encouraged to work together as a team, by means of the Bulldozing and grading of the road leading to the co-operative farm site. It will allow all the co-operative societies operating within the local government area to be allotted a portion in this proposed Organized Co-operative Farm (OCF). The synergic impact of this cohesion will thus lead to increased output, as earlier stated. This program will:-

1.      Aid the farmers to have value for living together in the farming environment.

2.      Enhance massive production of agricultural produce; thus leading to increased food supply.

3.      Help in the eradication of middlemen from the agric marketing strategy, and empower the Association to conduct the foodstuff pricing.

4.      Help attract foreign investors to the council area, to assist in ACFA’s urge to project agriculture.

5.      Project the image of farmers in the area and also help them be fitted in their place in the scheme of things, as farmers from the most fertile land in the country.

6.      Create an opportunity to collect produce tax from the farmers direct from the farm to the Local Government Coffer.

COMBINE FARMING! A BREAKTHROUGH FOR EDO COOPERATIVE FARMERS

Edo state farmers, which included Ovia North East Cooperative Farmers, has never had direct access to markets to trade their goods because of middlemen invasion. Base on this development, individual farmers finds it difficult to produce the quantity and quality kinds of food crops they would otherwise have grown. Hence, their produce spoiled due to lack of storage facilities and bad roads. Absence of these infrastructures has always hinders smooth operations of the farmers.

This proves to be a similar problem in many countries though. But All Cooperative Farmers Association (ACFA) have decided to take a bold step of success by organizing all farmers together in one settlement and begin to contract each farmers’ groups to grow predetermined types and quantities of fruit and vegetables. This will help the Association to. remove the middlemen by guaranteeing a fair fixed price to farmers for each type of produce, to be renegotiated annually. Collection stations will be built in the middle of each growing area so that the needed variety of produce could be assembled every day. Weighing and grading are carried out transparently in the presence of the farmers. Refrigerated trucks which shall be purchased by the Association will help to reduce losses.

In this way, they will be able to provide all necessary amenities and to manage the mental skills and quality administration so as to represent all co-operative farmers in the state and beyond.

Mother

In your eyes so clear we can read the dream of our progress you dreamt about us recently;

In your eyes so tender, we can view our future as splendid and in its full bloom;

In your eyes so transparent, we see again the motherly advice, love, passion and affection you use to render to us;

It’s as visible and crystal clear that we are still very much closed to your heart. As it was when you gave birth to us;

Brightly! We can see it. Brilliantly clear and as powerful as the morning dew.

In the clapping of your hands, we in ACFA understand that you are sending a message to us.

Dear mother, you can’t leave us at this critical time.

We urged that you support us to BULLDOZE/GRADE our FARM-ROAD now, to aid our effort in the farm.

We will be  pleased.

Edo Farmers Cry For Help

            Edo State is located in the rain forest geographical belt. This empowers the natural endowment of rich vegetation, which has made the state a food basket for the nation. Edo state has a rich soil and favorable climate, which helps in the production conditions for the farmers of the state. Some agriculturists say, Edo is all year round farming environment. And it’s good for an all- cultivation of a wide variety of food and cash crops.

          Agricultural economists also add that, the state, being a gateway to the Eastern, Western and Northern parts of  Nigeria, has leverage for the good marketing of agricultural products.
Products such as pineapple, maize, pawpaw, cassava, banana, cocoa, rubber, rice, yam and plantain are among the items cultivated in all the senatorial districts of  Edo state. Gov Adams Oshiomhole had raised the hope of Edo farmers in his 2009 budget speech, when he said that his administration will give the agricultural sector top priority.

          A major program he promised will be funded for the sector is the replanting of Urhonigbe rubber plantation. Above all, “we will encourage and collaborate with private investors in the area of large-scale mechanized agriculture, through the provision of land and counterpart funding where necessary,” he promised.
The state’s Commissioner for Agriculture, Dr. Tunde Lakoju had also promised that the state would approach the development of the sector in a way that will create employment opportunities, boost food production and enhance revenue generation.
One year after, many Edo farmers, whose hopes had been raised, have begun to ask questions that beg for answers.

           “So far, we are not seeing anything or hearing anything from the government. They have kept mute over everything concerning agriculture. This is where our worries begin,” laments a farmer, Izebigie Ojo.
John Oziegbe, another farmer, says that they are contending with problems such as lack of fertilisers, non-access to loans, low budget allocation to agriculture and non-payment of counterpart funds by the state government.
“All these have put us in a disadvantaged position as farmers in the state. We foresee a sharp decrease in our harvests this year and this will impact negatively on our income, aside from the likely food crisis,” he says.

          The Chairman of the Edo All-Farmers’ Association of Nigeria (AFAN), Dr. Peter Okpere, says that the situation with farmers in the state is very bad.
“There was nothing like flag-off for the new planting season this year. This has never happened. We know that previous governments in the state did not concern themselves with the issue of agriculture, but we had hoped for something better from this government. What we are seeing now does not give us much hope,” he laments.

              The Coordinator of AFAN in Edo North, Dr. Abdulahi Mohammed, says the state government is not giving the needed attention to the agricultural sector.
“The government does not  seem to recognize AFAN as a body,” he laments, stressing that the less than one per cent allocation to agriculture in the current budget does not hold promise for the desire to attain self sufficiency in food production.
“How do they even hope to create the needed employment they talk about through the sector if the funding continues like this? Everything is just wrong with the way government is taking the issue of agriculture. Apart from the counterpart fund for the Root and Tuber Expansion Programme (RTEP), which the government paid last year, no other counterpart fund has been paid,” he stressed.
Obviously agitated, Mohammed continued: “The Fadama III project, which has fully taken off in other states has yet to start in Edo. In fact, farmers and Edo State are missing out in the chance to tap into about N800 million because of the government’s failure to pay its counterpart fund of about N200 million.” Mohammed further wants the state government to fulfill its promise of providing 73 tractors and fertilisers for use by farmers in the state.
However, Lakoju rose to the defence of government, saying that there is no iota of truth in the allegation that the Oshiomhole-led government is neglecting the agricultural sector. He debunks claims that the government does not recognise AFAN.
“They are the bedrock of our operation. The only reason why we are here is the farmers. If we do not recognize them, who else are we going to recognize? What the government has been doing in the past one year is to concentrate its little resources on critical areas like road construction and rehabilitation, as well as education.

            “Unlike what obtained in the past, we do not want to distribute thin allocation to every sector and achieve nothing significant at the end of the day. We chose areas of immediate priority,” he says.
He continued: “We quite agree with the farmers that time is running out but it is no fault of ours that there are no fertilizers. There are problems to be sorted out with the federal government regarding fertiliser acquisition.
“I agree that the budget for agriculture in the current year is about one per cent but as soon as the issue of funds improves, more budgetary provisions will be made for the sector.

“Government cannot joke with the payment of counterpart funding since such payment helps to attract more funds. We have six programmes, including Fadama III project, that are counterpart-funded and we have put up a memo to that effect.”
Lakoju appealed to farmers in the state to remain calm and resolute, as government is duty-bound to change the fortune of all operators in the sector.
“It is the only way we can produce food for our people, as well as raise internally generated revenue. We are targeting the creation of employment opportunities through agriculture,” he assures.
For Mr. Paul Omoruvi, an agriculturist, many things need to be done if government intends to truly boost agriculture to the level it is in states like Kwara and Benue. He believes that Edo State already has the human capacity and the fertile land required for good agricultural engagement to create employment and ensure food security.

           Mr. Omoruyi advises that any available fertilizers must not be entrusted to politicians, who in the past subverted their distribution to the genuine farmers.
“They should be evenly distributed around the state. Farm input shops should be available as well as communal farms. Seminars and capacity building should be embedded in the communal farm programme,” he said.
Sounding optimistic, Lakoju assured farmers in the state that they will have cause to smile very soon, as the government has launched into agricultural mapping of the state.

“The blueprint for agriculture is tailored on the vision of the governor, which is to eradicate poverty, create employment opportunities and use same a basis for revenue generation,” he says.
Agricultural economists share the optimism of Lakoju but insist that promises by government must go beyond mere words, so as to boost food availability in the country.

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