Overtime, rural women in towns and villages alongside interstate highways have made it a habit to display their farm produce by the roadsides and make quick money. But couldn’t they have taken their wares to the nearest market and still make their sales, rather than expose themselves to the dangers of the gentlemen of the highways and even accidents? Godwin Simon just back from a trip to Ekiti State took time to speak with some of the traders, especially on their preference for the highways.
NATURALLY, farm produce are expected to be taken to the market places for sale. This is because buyers right from time immemorial have fixed their minds on the market as a place where they can always access goods and products of all sorts to purchase.
However, some farmers and village women have long defied this traditional arrangement of selling their produce at the market, opting instead to display them by major highways, where travellers driving past will always spot them and stop by. Usually their locations are somewhat close to their farms, something that may be borne out of convenience. For reasons best known to them, these group of traders have also continued to increase, somehow generating curiousity; even as they make available fresh produce to travellers, who barely have time to go to the markets.
As experienced by this reporter on his recent trip to Ekiti, these traders who incidentally are also the farmers of the produce, they take cover under trees beside the road, while some make small tents under which they store some of their produce. Prominent among the produce on display are usually plantain, yam, orange, maize and banana.
One of the farmers, Mrs. Salawu in an interview with this reporter disclosed that the reason for their selling along highway is strategic and economic. According to her, “We decided not to go and join others in the main market for personal reasons. This place is our own market. It’s all a matter of strategy. If we go to the main market, we may not make enough sales because competition there is stiffer. Things are also more expensive at the market due to cost of transportation.
“Here, people easily locate us without stress; they come to us and take their time to negotiate with us. We don’t have fixed prices here and all our products are negotiable.”
She said their produce hardly get spoilt before sale as patronage has increased over the years. “We don’t need any preservatives; we are not even acquainted with all these modern means of preservation. All we do is expose them to fresh air. Do you know the number of people that pass through here daily? Most of them stop to buy one thing or the other.” She said.
Mrs. Giwa, who has been on the location for five years revealed that two of her children are in universities and their sponsorship is based on the income generated from her trade. “Some people think that we are nobody or that we are the poorest, but this is not true. Some of us have children in universities. Personally, I have two children in universities whom I sponsor with my gains from here.
“My husband owns the farm; I help him to do the selling and we sustain our family with it. My hubby and I are uneducated, but we have vowed to sponsor all our children to tertiary education level and we hope that God will help us to achieve this.”
She expressly dismissed fears of robbers’ attack, noting that in her 5-year stay in the business, she has neither experienced nor heard any case of farmers being robbed in the area. She attributed this to the grace of God over their lives, as she believes that optimum security comes from God.
A young man, Mr. Adio, who said he is in his late twenties and specialises in selling plantains stated that he inherited the plantain farm from his father and has decided to concentrate on farming rather than engaging in anti-social activities. He disclosed that he has a primary six certificate but could not further his studies due to financial constraint caused mainly by his father’s illness which later led to his death.
His words, “Since I couldn’t further my education, I decided to engage in farming. With this, I am able to keep myself together. Though I’m not yet married, but I will soon get my wife.”
Responding to questions on why they don’t take their produce to farms, he noted that he has a personal reason for this. He said, “We believe that we are freer here. Most importantly is the problem of transportation. Those truck owners often charge high prices for their service. I used to make use of the market, but when I discovered that I often ran into loss due to exorbitant transport charges, I decided to try the road-side marketing, only to discover that it is better. Aside that you no longer need to pay for transport, patronage here is comparably higher than what obtains at the market.”
Commenting on how they make profit, he said since the farmers are the owners of the produce, what they need is just to sell and keep the money. “If we sell, the money is ours. If we don’t sell, the produce remains ours. So, profit making depends on how well you can sell. There is little or no financial demand on us. We don’t share our money with anybody. Once you subtract the amount you spent on the farm, which is sometimes not easy to calculate, the rest is yours.” He explained.
He added that they make more sales during festive periods like Christmas and New Year as more people often travel during these periods. He expressed optimism that this year won’t be different.
Customers who managed to speak with our reporter stated that they prefer the road-side traders because they can easily get fresh farm produce with little stress.
Mr. Ayodeji Fatoba who works with Greensworld Global Services Limited noted that he prefers buying farm produce by the highways majorly for the freshness of the produce on display. He said, “You can see that these plantains are fresh and very mature. You can’t find these at the market, especially Lagos where I live. The cheap price coupled with the quality of produce make me a regular buyer here. Produce in the markets are predominantly substandard in terms of quality, while their high price is ridiculous. Why not stop here where you will get quality ones at a reduced price?” He retorted.
Another customer, Mr. Edward said he cherished the accessibility of produce at their locations. “One can easily stop here, buy what he wants and zoom off. I don’t have time to be parading the market, especially when I’m on a journey like this. So, the only option I have is to buy in an easily accessible place.”
