Neglecting Peasant Farmers
Farmers! The likes of Madam. Alice Isibor, 78 years old farmers from
Ovia North East Local Government Area, who have decided to dump farming because of the
neglect of this sector by all relevant stake holders, says to ACFA’s Crew that
she became tired when it becomes obvious
that the government and other private investors; both foreign or local, does
not have regard for farmers.
Their intent is to use
the farmers like bathing slippers and throw them to the doorway, when going to
attend a very important occasion.
She said that at a
time when she needs some seedlings; the government fail to meet up in this
regard. And “in my very eyes, they were giving these farmers basic requirements
to people that already have money”. Only to keep telling the international body
that they are helping the peasant farmers.
This reminds me of the
Chinese proverb which says: “Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day.
Teach a man how to fish, and you feed him for a lifetime.” Generally, African
peasants are not helped to succeed as farmers, though there are exceptions in
some African countries. peasant farmers could also be referred to as Subsistence Farmer
Since colonial times, Africa’s best land has been devoted to the production of
cash crops for export. In addition, large farming projects have been developed
to provide food for the more affluent cities. Thus peasant farmers have often
been pushed off good land and forced to subsist on land that is less
productive. Left to fend for themselves, Africa’s peasants have degraded
fragile land by over cultivation and overgrazing, and by cutting down too many
trees. Large portions of Africa are turning
into desert.
Their position have
been undermined by price-fixing. To please city dwellers, many African
governments keep the price of farm produce very low. This policy, according to
the scientific journal Nature, has “contributed powerfully to the
decline of agriculture, the hunger of the same urban populations and the
dependence of potentially fertile Africa farm-land for food imports.”
