Why is Southwest neglecting agriculture?

By Emmanuel Oladesu

 

Reality may have now dawned on the Southwest geo-political zone that it cannot adequately feed itself without relying on food supply from other zones.

The late Chief Obafemi Awolowo and his regional Ministers of Agriculture-Adisa Akinloye and Gabriel Akin-Deko-may be turning in their graves. The labours of the past appear to be in vain. It may be due to the fact that there are few worthy latter-day successors to build on their legacies in the crical sector.

Two weeks ago, a sort of food crisis was orchestrated to the detriment of the three Southern regions. Some aggrieved Northern farmers and cattle rearers blocked the roads leading to the South from the North. They were protesting the alleged maltreatment of their kith and kin during the isolated crisis in the South. Vehicles conveying food stuffs to the West were blocked. The traders and the lorry-loads of foodstuffs were stuck on the highway.

Northern farmers have the right to determine which market they will take their goods. They have the right to decline supply to any zone. Therefore, the protesters against supply to the South never violated the law of the land.

The lessons are instructive. The blockage was more or less a wake up call. The Western Region that previously relied on agriculture and reaped  huge benefits from it in the fifties and sixties became a casualty of a curious shift or neglect. The North briefly asserted its superiority in terms of food production and supply. Blockage became a weapon of retaliation. The South, particularly the Southwest, appeared helpless. The import was not lost on discerning leaders of the region.

It was a brief moment of agony at the Mile 12 market, Ketu, Lagos. For three days, prices of yams, tomatoes, peppers, onions and fruits went up. Momentarily, there was panic buying. The news about the blockage spead, sparking anxiety.

Up North, there was agitation by farmers too. Their article of trade-the farm produce-are perishable. Northern farmers needed the Southern market to quickly dispose them off and earn money, in the absence of an effective canning system. If they are not sold on time, they will rot away. Therefore, the prospects of revenue loss also created apprehension for the farmers.

It would therefore, mean that food sufficiency in the West through the development of agriculture has implication for the North. It is either Northern farmers would have to reduce the prices of foodstuffs from their region or look for market elsewhere. But, that can only be possible if the Southwest takes the mockery seriously and returns to the basics.

The six Southwest states of Oyo, Ogun, Ondo, Osun, Ekiti, and Lagos are blessed with vast arable lands. Geographers describe the zone as tropical rain forest. Tilling the land in Yorubaland, may not require irrigation and fertilisers, unlike some parts of the North, which are deserts.

But, the children of Oduduwa have neglected the age long occupation of their forefathers. Gone were the days when agriculture was the mainstream of regional economy.

In pre-colonial Yorubaland, food was surplus. Even warriors during intra-tribal wars in Youba land, knowing that their expeditions may last for months, would plant maize which they harvested to augment food supplies from the home front.

Food sufficiency was a source of pride and security. In Ijesaland, for example, it was said that plaintain, which was in abundance, was only meant for birds! In Ekiti axis, the farm was likened to a paradise(Aye oko, aye ajer’orun).

But, time has changed. In Ijesa, and indeed, in many parts of the region, banana is now expensive, sometimes beyond the reach of people.

Ace musician King Sunny Ade saw the danger coming. In one of his albums in the eighties, he warned about the consequence of neglecting farming: ‘Ko s’agbe mo loko, ara oko ti dari wale.’ (No farmer on the farm again. Farmers have returned home).

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Southwest can only boast of few farmers at the moment, relative to the general population. The tribe of farmers is fading. Southwest farmers are aging. The youths, in pursuit of elusive white collar jobs, see agriculture as a highly laborious, less economically rewarding and dirty occupation. Some prefer to ride ‘okada’ to make ends meet. Many follow politicians around for crumbs falling off the tables of big shots. Deviant youths engage in advance free fraud, cybercrime and armed robbery. Since rural areas are not conducive, they migrate to cities in search of immaginary employment.

In fact, the Yoruba elite who go into farming are not proud of being addressed as farmers. They are, as Gen. Olusegun Obasanjo once said, “agric businessmen.” Even at that, their agricultural activities are restricted to poultry and small-scale, backyard animal husbandry.

Where are the farm settlements of the Awolowo era? Between 1955 and 1990, nearly all the public primary and secondary schools in rural Southwest had school farms or gardens. Children were inducted into agricultural practices from the onset. It was a tradition. Many schools even had poultry and piggrey. Some had fish ponds. In the rural areas, after the close of school on Friday, many day students would proceed to the farms to join their peasant-farmer parents. Today, there are pupils in the Southwest who think that yam tubers are plucked from trees.

In the old Western Region, Premier Obafemi Awolowo used proceeds from agriculture to develop the region. There was no oil money. Yet, the government provided free education and free health services. Many roads were constructed. Housing and industrial estates sprang up. Liberty Stadium, Ibadan, the first television station, Cocoa House, and Oodua Group are legacies of the administration. Up to now, the feats of the government have not been surpassed by successive administrations.

Farming was easy as an inherited occupation in Yorubaland. The size of farm conferred class and distinction on farmers in the days of yore. Men’s crops included yam, maize, rice, beans, cocoa, coconut, palm trees, kolanut, oranges, mangoes etc. Women’s crops were vegetables, pepper, garden eggs etc.

Many farmers got income from farming, which they used to train their children who later became lawyers, teachers, accountants, engineers, bankers and civil servants.

In those days, modern farm implements were scarce. Is it not pathetic that a sort of food crisis hit Southwest, despite its fertile land, opportunities for mechanised farming and improved seedlings?

Lamentably, farming is also threatened by banditry and cattle rustling. The few farmers do not have respite on their farms. In Yewa, Ibarapa and Oke-Ogun areas of Oyo State, and some parts of Ondo and Ekiti, farmers are harassed on the farms. They are kidnapped,  maimed, raped, killed and sacked. Their crops are destroyed by the activities of cattle rearers.

Southwest should embrace the reality of the danger ahead. The six state governments should intensify efforts on how to encourage the youths to embrace agriculture. More incentives should be provided. More rural roads should be constructed to facilitate the transportation of farm produce to the cities. The region should go back to basics.