Edo Farmers, NEGLECTED

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 prompt for this question! Who actually are 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.”