Farmers lament as harvests perish over deplorable FCT roads
Farmers in the Ijah community of the Kwali Area Council in the Federal Capital Territory are concerned that their harvested crops are perishing because of a lack of good access roads to transport them to the market. Several farmers who spoke with Abuja Metro on Saturday said many of their harvested crops, especially tomatoes, peppers, […]
Farmers fixing parts of a collapsed bridge on a deplorable road leading to the community
Farmers in the Ijah community of the Kwali Area Council in the Federal Capital Territory are concerned that their harvested crops are perishing because of a lack of good access roads to transport them to the market.
Several farmers who spoke with Abuja Metro on Saturday said many of their harvested crops, especially tomatoes, peppers, and okra, were rotting on their farms because the poor road conditions prevented vehicles from entering the community to take the crops to the market.
A farmer, Barnabas Ishaya, who was helping other community members fix a bad portion of the road, said he harvested 12 baskets of okra from his farm but could not transport them to the market.
He had to hire women to carry the okra and tomatoes on their heads to cross a collapsed culvert before a vehicle could take them to the market.
“Also, Last week, I had to mobilize some women and pay them to carry some of the okra I harvested on their heads across the collapsed culvert before a pickup truck could take them to the market in Kwali,” he said.
The road from the Ijah junction to both Ijah I and Ijah II communities has been in a deplorable state, and a large double-cell culvert connecting the two villages collapsed on Friday after a heavy downpour.
Another farmer, Enoch Bala, said that both farmers and residents have been stranded since the culvert collapsed on Friday, which he said has completely cut off residents of Ijah II from accessing the neighboring Ijah I community.
He added that the people worst affected are the farmers who cannot transport their crops to the market to sell.
“In my case, I have some baskets of tomatoes that I harvested and brought home to transport to the market in Kwali. Unfortunately, I could not transport them because of the collapsed culvert, and there is no other access road,” he said.
Yakubu Garba, a farmer who has lived in the community for more than 11 years, said the bad road conditions have affected his ability to transport his crops, which are mostly vegetables, peppers, okra, and tomatoes.
“Just go under the tree there; you will see baskets of tomatoes that I’m supposed to take to the market. I have 13 baskets. Since the culvert collapsed, vehicles cannot come in to take them to the market, which is why the community decided to mobilize and see how they can fix a portion of the road,” he said.
The Sarkin Noma (Chief of Farmers) in the community, Mr. Dauda Bwambwa Moses, said the deplorable state of the road linking the community to Kwali has been a major challenge for residents, especially the farmers.
He said that even before the culvert collapsed, the road from Ijah community to neighboring Ijah II to Kwali was a “nightmare” for residents.
He said, ‘’Some farmers have lost their harvested crops, especially since the recent culvert collapse prevented vehicles from accessing the community.
“On Friday evening, the village chief invited me to his palace where we decided to mobilize other community members, including youths, to see how we could fix some parts of the road so farmers could transport their produce to the market in Kwali.”
The chief of farmers appealed to the Kwali council under the leadership of Danladi Chiya to appeal to the FCT administration to help the community by fixing the road from the Ijah junction to the community.
“We have seen what the FCT minister, Nyemson Wike, has been doing, especially in Kwali town where he rehabilitated some roads. The people of Ijah community are also appealing to him through the council chairman, Danladi Chiya, to extend the same gesture to us here by fixing the road so that both farmers and residents can have some relief,” he said. Moses regretted that despite 95% of the inhabitants being peasant farmers, the lack of a good access road to transport their farm produce, especially during the rainy season, has always been a serious challenge.
Mr. Solomon Yahaya, an official of the works department in Kwali, said in a telephone call on Saturday that the council had already written to the FCT minister, Nyemson Wike, requesting the rehabilitation of two more roads in the council.
He said Ijah and Awawa-Yewuti were included in the request presented to the minister.
“The Ijah road you are talking about has already been captured, including that of Awawa-Yewuti road, which the council had already forwarded to the FCT Minister for his intervention next year,” he said.