How women farmers survive on Gbagalape hills

A journey to the farms on the hills and in the valley where water flows all year round, even on motor bike, is very tedious. “That’s the way we make it here every time. If you farm here, you must be prepared to trek on the rough pathway as there is no option,” one of the […]

A journey to the farms on the hills and in the valley where water flows all year round, even on motor bike, is very tedious.
 “That’s the way we make it here every time. If you farm here, you must be prepared to trek on the rough pathway as there is no option,” one of the farmers, Mrs. Lucy Godwin, who farms vegetables such as ugwu, water leaf, bitter leaf and scent leaf in the valley, maize and other crops on the hill, told Daily Trust, while preparing water leaf cuttings for planting.
The woman farmer whose husband, Mr. Godwin Okon, a restaurant and bar operator, also helps her in the farming business, told Daily Trust,  “I spend over N100,000 every year to farm ugwu and make reasonable profit, which I use to buy food, clothes and sometimes assist my husband to pay the children’s school fees, so the labour is not in vain.”
27-year-old Mrs. Rose David is another female vegetable farmer. She told our reporter: “I grew up in the farm. Farming is our work. My father who retired from service about 10 years ago, my mother and me are farmers. We specialise in vegetable farming and we can give you any quantity you want. But we face several challenges, especially land, money and lack of government assistance, apart from the rough terrain here.”
Mrs. David lamented that there was a time she rented a plot and spent about N40,000 to plant ugwu and other vegetables, but only two months after planting, the plot owner chased her out despite all her pleas and she lost everything.
“But the problems don’t stop us from farming as we try to tackle them. Sometimes when I return from farm beaten by rain, some neigbours mock me, but I am not worried. People say farming is a dirty and tedious work, but to me, that’s not the case.  Do you know that some of the people who mock me even beg me for my produce during harvest?” The ugwu, water leaf and scent leaf farmer also said.
She continued: “There was a time I went to the town seeking for job and I got trapped in the traffic hold up. I got frustrated and regretted why I left the farm that day. Vegetable farming pays. Though ugwu seeds are now costly – between N7,000 to N7,500 for a 4-litre paint container –  and I hardly make calculations on the expenses and income, I can tell you that I make reasonable profit to cater for my needs and school fees for my two children.”