~_______________________________________________])_AJUL ___Y __T_R __U_S_T___T_uo_~_a_~_JU_n_O_26_'_20_'_2__
AGRICUTURE ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Meet Nigeria's premier farmer in Ghana fr.1I'lI 01 105bi in Aun. 1iIlIu
I
N Ghana btu.. of
I
nation when the country Is not 10
nanelinr.' young Nigcrim
Is datinpus ling himsdf u an
tnlCrprulns I.rme:r. It Is nth. r parad<Wa.l that
a )'Outh will Hnd fulfUrmnt
In
~ will 0'Kl0n and motOf" wetds than t It IradltK)rW white
collar job in I foreign land. Another i.J uratlng (act is thai ~ youn1 man was onu doto!clled In H:lib vi, whcrchc worLcd for an aC.yettilins company for fOUl Flocn his modatsa'fIngs during I I, JO]OUrD ovcneu. ~th« th.m c ngOilgt' In dealing in
ran..
mcrchan.liu: he optrd for farm ing. Osill t-..snlOOr hlus from Edo ~IC of NJge ria. He rdocated to Ghana Ir 2(02 after hi. rdum from HOlian! Initially farmtnS was not his Xlseulon. He ,,·cOl into estate bU sll\CU, building .00 sdlm, hc>u$ot t. HOW'e'\er. tho adl'Ullurc dxI not go ,.dl. He recountN I1w he corutruc~ ~ two buUdings 1.1 Pokuue. but 8etling to dispose the rroptrty xcamc. chalImge. It look him "lOUt ninc montrulo 5dl one of tbl n: lbcu.ptticnce marlttd IturnIng potn' in lis life. He rememMmI his first loft, went for il and nnbnced it. ' lIal wuaboulthnc )'nr1880 Sin~tMn hckadnevcr
"""""""k.
He i.t una .. ;U;;ably tM most HS iblc NlgrriIJ f.u rnn- In Ghan.. Ht Is mga rod In mKhanizcd (arming. Hc ".-ns I_rzr (arms In JIoku.aMo and ,aUK. Hc iscngagtd In the culll'l'liion of c.ssa~ mOllJlt and rlneJrrlt'. On his t'ai IT a' Akuw (Ccn ·
lnlreglon),te luow:rlJOacrn
of land plan'ed with maize.nd anothn- 40 .w::-u ~nd with pinmppl<. Esaobor look this rtpOfll"f round his fw IT. (or hours and it wu_very lU: maungCJ:pl"r1cncc. Throught>ul thc tour he- c:lUded deep puslon (lot> £arming II was ~thatltdm~immmsc
Uluf'actk"on riOln his oa:UpaliOlL
-Whtn I wu growing up. , hlld a paternal w\C..t'. He did M)IlICthing Ilkt tlris on _ very large: salc.And I Sllnuch loved itthcn when M 'n"dled 10 his pbcc for hoUdaysln \liMn, NiBai.. Sothal
wu when I devdopcd intCf'CSl in farmin,,- hc ,nlhuscd.. As M Wf'qt through _ portion of the ca5$in a farm, an DCiled Escwbcw slU ~d hb cxptricnce WIth ow tq)!,rter on his odyucy nlo&mung. "Leti IW1 f:-om cusan. J ao
(rom some fomgn pm.
much like ii, lxause onc can do a lei of things (rom II; he
~mand
c:a:dllimed. Hc tw cultivaled about 40 ac:m of ClSAva In Pokuase 1bt 5hmbs arc nine months ok! and will be hanuted In thnc monthl.. V\'e should ha\"C stm.cd harvesting a' nine months but J decded to shdvclt.-hcc:a:plaJncd. Hc plans CJ:pandma the plan. I.llIIon to a )00 Kft as I0OI1 as he was through with harvuting and wu able to raboc more funds IOC'
'" am using II lOr prn. but J have plans lOr UJaIl8 it forC1hanOl and ,lwcIl beaux I had a contact
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He affirmed tMl thecultJvauon of cassava was fuu.ncWJy reward lIlg.AIIdc (rom being_suple lOad in West Mrica, olhcr secondary products that wen: potenlial htah
om.
somtllm~
from O!.ina and thqo nft'dtd a ship r.o.d ofstarch. So you know that is w~ I am going by God's lpedal gracc." he c:a:plaiMd. I k considcn the cultivation of cassava as kss demanding com· pared to OI~ crops liM malx.c and ~blc5. whkh requirc mechanical mllnu~ and fertiliz · He laid it was only in nrc circuJ1\5laJlCU, whm the land was aculdy dd'Kicnt in nutrientJ Ihat (crtihzcn Will be applied. He addt'd that you. only have to weed twice throughout the cropping
ers..
forctgn cuTmlC)' eamcn could be
.....,..,
dmvcd from IL For lrutaoce, he dtcd tthanol. stan:h. sutJonnics, and phannaccutJals as IOIlIC products that QSA\';t could be pro«Ui"& Esczobor is contmted with pro«:uing the CUAva in hiJ mill to mM local suppty and IaJBC oonsignmaIu fOr oontnrcUIfS. li iS ambition Is to establish a stvch proccaing mill to meet aport
l1.c cue is quite diff~r~nt (or malu: and ~ when manure has to be added as a mat· Il"f o( ncccuity In order to get muimum yield. The dccWon to or not 10 apply fcrtilizcr- depends on the agronomist, who tesu the land and dctcnnlM Its suitability for thc crop. EInobor acknowLcdacd that maJu prodUCH faster than cas·
..... roc
sava. a hmer can plant and harvest thrice in a year. whereu in the case or cassava you harvtst jlnt once IeVCry year Already, hc has a Illirge marUt (oc the crop maize being one of the staJMe foods In Ghlln.. For InstlllAce he muled thai he has been contracted by the govern· ment or Ghlna to supply secondary schoob maiu under the- School fUding scheme for
Khoob.
T
he large popubtion of Nigcnans who mlde in Ghana still enJOY their ddicadcs. PartkuWty 'edinbiko' IOlIp, beJorc now, thq received their pumpkin or 'ugwu.· leaves wcddy (rom Nigttia. Now he sup· plies them regularly.
Esuobor is one courageow; Nigman living in Ghana, who is determined to succeed despite
thcdauntingdWkn:gcsassodated with ItvIng in a I'ordgn land. For him the joumrr has been difficult cspcdalty at the beginning. when
... "" ........... ",fund.. He said: -, remember going to two banks at the beginning. I do not wan!. 10 mention names. , evm
wenl with mybuildmgOOcummt, I had satisfied evuy f'ftIUirmlCflL So when they inquired what I nccdcd the money ror Itokl them (umins. They do not give loaru for fanning because of the rub InvolvM.. -) qUlle unckrstood, but alIlhe same. I had aU my documcnls. WhlIIt , W1lS requesting (or was not up to half the value o( what my buildings ~"CfC worth. Afiu every effort I put in to secure the loan I was turned down, I was tvm asMd to open accounu and depo6il money With them; he lamenled. In order to ,,"IVC Interest In rarming. he canvassed ror InOI'e support rrom govc.rnmenL Hc maintalncd that govemmmt should wbsidiu: fertilizcn and chmtlcab supply 10 Fanners. He expm.scd oplimism thai food productiOn could be sca1ed up with government's suppo" 10
rumen.
"Whcn young peopIc like me can be assured 0( 5ceds and some othtt thin&' thai we need to cul· tivatt our crops. wc'D be clKOll raged to do more; be Aid.
Packaged seeds in market are fake - Agric council F..-. MMhfa ,tkJNbr. llori11
TIlE Qualltr Control 0( the National Agrkultul1ll Sftd
u. ""'-
Council Ai4 D.ost pacbgnl. seeds in NIgcrla'. markeu This is bc.'ullJe lbty arc not certified by the council,
lu usbtanl dlr«lor, Mr, Agbooia Adcbayo said at 1M «'unell'. sa:d maret survcillance excrclse in parts of r.wan Stale. He said prollfention of bad seeds among dealers 10 wmas bas adversdy affected food sccurlly in the coun· try_~Dnlers in seed ace supposed 10 gtl thf: Stcds from
the scedcompany that Is rcgu.bted by thccounclt, but you know IOmc Nigerians w1th their antks-Somc o(them out· smut our officus attached to these companies. -Most o( the seeds they bring to the ma rket arc not actually certified by our mm. And who. Dot certlfitd. It is 5ttTIIO be of poor quality and hb:; he said.