In Sokoto, quela birds taunt farmers

But even in the face of this, Aminu has to continue to farm to live and fend for his two wives and 10 children. The havoc wreaked by the black, red-beaked migratory birds on farms produce year in, year out, have continued to spread fear among farmers in the state as they lament over the […]

But even in the face of this, Aminu has to continue to farm to live and fend for his two wives and 10 children.

The havoc wreaked by the black, red-beaked migratory birds on farms produce year in, year out, have continued to spread fear among farmers in the state as they lament over the serious damages to their crops.

Those whose farms lie on the path of quela migration are affected most, just as great number of these migratory birds are noted to be found in Fadama areas.

The farmers say their loss to quela birds yearly amounts to enough food to feed a multitude.

Yet others forgo sleep as well as sacrifice other daily activities to keep vigil on maturing grains, if only to secure the fruit of their labour.

“Many of us have to pass the nights on our farms as these birds leave their hideouts very early and return late in the evening. This is part of our sustained struggle to protect our source of livelihood,” Aliyu Aminu, a local farmer explained.

Our investigation also showed that some farmers have abandoned farming activities due to the migratory birds attacks.

Some rice farmers in Wurno local government area of the state, for instance, are noted to have deserted their farms as a result of the menace of quela birds which affected some villages in the council, including Nasarawa,  Daji, Lugu Barayar and Kwargaba.

Indeed, invasion of quela bird on farms have been recorded in many local government areas in the state and many farmers in affected areas have bitter tales to tell.

Few days ago, reports from Dange Shuni local government indicated that the birds were seriously threatening various farmlands in Rakina village and its environs.

“The quela birds have already made grave damages to our farm produce,” one of the affected farmers in the village, Malam Nura Maigishiri, lamented.   

“Due to the damage done to the crops, the majority of the affected farmers do not expect to reap a third of the usual quantity of their annual harvest,” he predicted.

But even as the situation looked bleak, some of farmers are pushing ahead to face this ubiquitous invaders.

Some of the affected farmers revealed that they had resorted to chasing the quela birds by shouting and beating deep sounding drums.

Recently, local farmers in Goronyo local government area destroyed the nesting place of the birds at Shallar Bale area.

But the problem persists.

Farmers in some affected areas are not happy that control measures are mostly taken by concerned authorities after their crops might have been damaged.

“What we want is for government to be proactive in making pesticides readily available to us so that we can use them on time before damage is done to our grains,” they asserted.

They appealled to the authorities to come to their aid so as to check further damages to their crops.

Last year, the federal government announced the approval of  N251 million to spray farmlands in its arid northern region that are being ravaged by  quela birds and locusts with  a total of 220 flight hours and over 60,000 litres of pesticides  to control the quela birds and grasshoppers in the affected  states.

A couple of weeks ago, in Sokoto, experts from the state Ministry of Agriculture went round some affected areas during which some hide-outs of quela birds were monitored  for possible action.

But as quela birds continue to leave their destructive marks on farms and threaten food security in the country, many have called for concerted efforts towards checking the trend.

 “It is alarming the level of damage caused by these birds which affects the livelihood of farmers in the zone. We are facing serious problems regarding the havoc being caused by quela birds that invade farmlands in the zone. These birds only leave for a while to neigbouring states and later return when farm produce are close to cultivation to ravage the crops,” member representing Goronyo constituency in the Sokoto State House of Assembly, Bello Mohammed lamented.

Mohammed, who is also the minority leader of the House, noted that the devastating effects of these birds had reduced the income of farmers, who constitute bulk of the population in Goronyo local government council.  It has further increased poverty in the area,” he added.

This, he observed, was despite efforts by the state government to spray farms annually across the state.

He called on the federal and state governments in the North-West zone, comprising of Sokoto, Kebbi and Zamfara States, to join in the fight against the menace of quela birds in their respective states.

“Food security is one of the priorities of the present administration, but the presence of the quela birds is a threat to the harvest which is fast approaching,” he observed.

Following a motion sponsored by Bello Muhammad Goronyo, the Sokoto state House of Assembly, last Tuesday, passed a resolution calling for collaboration between federal and state government as well as the affected communities to fight the menace of quela birds in some northern states of Nigeria. The legislators also called   on the Sokoto state government to commence aerial spray of the quela birds.

However, this move by the legislators would only be momentous if immediate action is taken by relevant authorities to address the issue squarely.

Some analysts say if aerial spraying is to achieve the desired effect, it should be consistent and last for a longer period.