Sina Fadare in this report x-rays the plights of women vegetable farmers, who for years have tilled the bank of the Maaro River at Ganmo village in Kwara State. The women, who are bonded by the same vision, passion and desire to survive, share their stories of struggle, achievements and government’s seeming neglect.
They had migrated from various villages and communities within and outside the state to settle at the base of Maaro River in Ganmo village, Kwara State, where they are guaranteed the benefit of the flowing river to water their vegetable, particularly during the dry season.
However, they are disadvantaged, cheated, neglected and abandoned at the point of their need by the Kwara State Government, with endless yearly unfulfilled promises. Common watering cans, which are very vital equipment to their vocation but which they can hardly afford, have remained elusive. Once every four years, when elections are drawing near, government officials gather them under a tree, with cameras beaming on their faces, promising to meet all their demands; but as soon as elections are over, they are back to square one.
Ordinarily, theirs should be a success story, considering that their needs are minimal; unfortunately they were abandoned and could therefore not upgrade their vocation like they envisaged. The farmers, who spread along the base of Maaro River to engage in vegetable farming round the year, are exclusively women, majority of them single mothers trying hard to raise fund from their meager sales of vegetable, to educate their children and generally make a living.
They are hard-working, determined and highly resourceful in their own way; even without any help whatsoever from the government. They shunned all forms of indolence despite their predicament and the temptation to go begging on the streets. To them, there is dignity in labour, and they are very proud of their vocation and their little contribution to the economy of the state.
Though disappointed that they have been abandoned, they hold onto the ray of hope that one day in the not too distant future, a messiah in form of a good government that will appreciate their economic contribution will surface in the state and they will have a new story to tell.
Despite the harsh and extremely cold harmattan that was preponderant in Ilorin and it’s environ when this reporter visited Ganmo, the farmers were already on their farms as early as 6:30am to water their vegetable bed. The farm was a beehive of activities when this reporter visited on 27th of December, 2017.
Their children were denied the early morning sleep peculiar to their contemporaries, as they equally stormed the farm to assist their mothers to fetch water from the stream to water the vegetable beds. To them, it is a daily ritual they must do to assist their mothers in order to fight off poverty.
The activities in the farm varies; while some are tendering the vegetable fields; some are tiling the ground in preparation for a new vegetable bed while others are harvesting their vegetable in preparation for the market.
The Nation gathered that most of the market days of the villages and towns around are targeted before farmers harvest their vegetables, so that they can have good bargaining. Aside this, Ganmo market, which comes up every five days, is equally a target to the farmers due to its closeness to the farm, which eliminates the stress that comes with transportation and cost.
Mama Aisha is a popular farmer at Maaro River bank; the visually impaired middle-aged woman migrated to Maaro river bank from Oke –Ode village in Ajase area of Kwara State. Her challenge has not stopped her from her vocation as a vegetable farmer. Narrating how she is coping as a farmer, she explained that there is dignity in labour and that she prefers what she is doing to roaming the street begging for alms.
“One of my sons will lead me to the farm where l will do the work for the day, depending on what l want to do on the farm. I know how to till the ground in preparation for a vegetable bed. In the same way, he would help me to fetch water from the river, which l then use to wet the vegetable bed if the need arises. Though it has not been easy, but l have had to cope with this routine since my eye became bad so that my children will not suffer.”
She explained that she had to relocate to the base of the river when she saw that other women were sustaining their families from proceeds from farming and selling vegetables. ”Some of my colleagues do help me, especially when it is time to harvest my vegetable.” She explained.
Though she is just about two years in the trade, Mama Aisha will appreciate it if government could come to the aid of all the vegetable farmers in the area because they all have the peculiar problems of not been able to procure fertilizer and watering cans to make their job easier.
To Madam Mulika Saka who migrated from Ogbondoko in Afon area of the state to the farm site six years ago, it has been a good decision, especially since she had nobody to assist her in training her children.
“I send my children to school through the proceeds I get from the farm. That is why you can see them around this early morning to assist me to fetch water from the river to wet my vegetable beds. It is a normal routine for them anytime they are on holidays.”
Madam Saka, who is not happy with the government of Kwara State for pretending not to be aware of their suffering said, “We used to see government presence anytime election is approaching. We have a cooperative society and we usually have our meeting dates where we discuss our collective problems and how to go about them. They will come to this meeting to promise us everything but as soon as their political ambition was achieved, we will not see any of them again.”
Speaking in the same vein, Madam Alarape Jimoh, who relocated to the village from Idi Ape area of Ilorin about 20 years ago, argued that their faith has been put in the hands of God because she has seen it all.
“I have been a vegetable farmer at the base of this river in the last twenty years and l can tell you authoritatively that all what we are doing here is self-effort. We are earning a living by producing vegetable here throughout the year round, but the little assistance we are expecting from government are not forthcoming. That is why you can see all of us using bucket to fetch water from the river to wet our vegetable.” She explained.
She lamented that most of them are widows who cannot afford to see their children going on the street to beg; therefore, she said “we had to form a cooperative society and resulted to thrift contribution to assist any of us in need and boost our economic livelihood.
“Ours is a sad story because any time we learnt there are opportunities available for small scale farmers like us, we usually go there but at the end of the day nothing comes out of it. We are tired of endless promises from governments, who will at the end of the day not do anything.”
The veteran vegetable farmer said that they, as a body, have resorted to self-help in order to be able to continue producing vegetable so that their survival can be guaranteed.
From one farmer to the other, The Nation found that they have common problems which they seemingly cannot solve themselves, unless the government comes to their aid. The most important daunting is how to access small loans that would enable them expand the scope of their business and possibly engage more hands to assist in tilling the ground and tending the vegetable to maturity.
Speaking on the journey so far, the leader of the cooperative society, Alhaja Olajumoke Atobisan explained that there are lots of assistance the government can render, to help create employment opportunities for people in the village.
“If there is opportunity for us to get fertilizer, small loans, and equipment like watering can and improved seedling, it will go a long way in helping us contribute our own little quota to the development of agriculture in the state.
“You can see that our children are all scattered on the farm because there is vacation; at times one needs between three to four people to assist on the farm, especially the tilling of the ground. I am happy that you can see for yourself how some of our women have been tiling the ground since morning. This job can create employment opportunities if government is ready to assist us.” She explained
The Maaro River is very significant to the people of Ganmo. Its antecedent dates back to shortly after the death of Afonja, the 6th Are-Ona kakanfo of Yoruba land and founder of Ilorin, who was killed as a result of the treachery of his friend Alimi. When Afonja fell, most of his warriors and family had to flee Ilorin to save their lives. When they arrived at Maaro River, they settled at the base of the river to start a new lease of life.
Speaking to The Nation on the plight of the vegetable farmers, a community leader and President of Afonja Descendants Union, (ADU), Comrade Abdul-kareem Olola Kasum said the Maaro Farmers’ Co-operative Society was formed in 2003 to give a new lease of life to the activities of the women vegetable farmers.
Olola-Kasum, who is resident in the community, explained that the women need all the assistance the state and local government can offer to help them step up their business. “Every day I see these women struggling to survive with the little proceed from their vegetable farming, they send their children to school and even contribute to the economy of the state, as people troop in here every five days to buy fresh vegetables.”
He however expressed fear over the future of Maaro River due to the indiscriminate construction of houses on the river bed, noting that host local government, Ifelodun Local Government should discourage this so that the river can retain its originality and at the same time continue to serve the vegetable farmers.
The Nation gathered that Agriculture was put under Economic Affairs in the 2016 budget of Kwara State along with Energy, Works & Transport, Information and Communication. This gulped N37.7 billion representing 32.5 per cent of the total budget of N116.2billion. However there was no deliberate policy in the budget that gave room for the development of small scale farming system in the state.
Speaking on the issues raised by the farmers, the Kwara State Commissioner for Agriculture, Mr. Goke Bamidele pointed out that some of the farmers did not access the right information that would afford them the opportunity to know what the government was doing.
Bamidele said if they had approached the Ministry of Agriculture to table their plights as a body, the ministry would have acquainted them with the available agricultural windows which they could tap into, adding that the ministry usually goes on air on the state radio to update stakeholders on such opportunities.
“They will have to come forward to know what is happening, whether we are going to connect them to the Bank of Agriculture or similar agency or other Federal Government interventions. There is this agric window at the Federal Ministry of Commerce where soft loans are given to co-operative farmers’ society such as theirs. They are free to come over for such opportunities.”
He explained that the facilities are already on the ground and what the farmers need as a body, is to approach the necessary agency that will assist them. “The state has a soft loan agric window that they can access anytime they are ready. Information is very crucial here, they need to seek for information on all the opportunities they can benefit from government.”
Speaking on how best to tackle the plight of the vegetable farmers at Ganmo, Prof. Kolawole, who is Provost of the School of Agriculture, Kabba noted that the farmers can be empowered through their co-operatives by giving them improved vegetable seeds, helping them purchase watering-cans, foliage fertilizer at Aleshinloye in Ibadan etc.
According to him the government could even engage experts in vegetable production to teach them the latest in dry season vegetable production, adding that this will go a long way in improving their production.
