‘Local rice’: The bitter, sweet side of an economy driven by women

This is the story of women who are actively involved in every section of the ‘local rice’ trade in a quiet corner of Kogi State. At every point, be it sowing, nurturing, harvest and sale, you find these  women doing their work and keeping the wheels of the local economy moving. Huge profits mean that […]

This is the story of women who are actively involved in every section of the ‘local rice’ trade in a quiet corner of Kogi State. At every point, be it sowing, nurturing, harvest and sale, you find these  women doing their work and keeping the wheels of the local economy moving. Huge profits mean that they have become’ breadwinners’ in their households, funding the  education of their children and keeping the home ‘running’ and putting a meal on the table. But in the course of their work their vision declines, because they beat the rice with sticks, and the flying seedlings enter their eyes and damage the cornea. Some of them  can no longer go to their farms because they are as good as blind, and they now depend on friends and family. A few still go to the farms even if the vision is failing. Because they  lack many modern farming items they are forced to use hoes, cutlasses or just their hands, which means that they spend many hours on their  farms.

“One afternoon I was using sticks to hit the rice since we do not have a  threshing machine. All of a sudden some of the rice seedlings flew into my eye and since then I have not been seeing well.” Fati Kadiri, 70, gives a  background to her experience “I started buying drugs from pharmacies and I stopped threshing rice from that moment.” She cannot remember the year all this took place, but adds “It happened a long time ago.”

 

Now, she no longer grows rice or does any kind of farming. From  her raised  voice it is clear  that she has good memories of her farming days as a much  younger woman cultivating the popular  crop in the stone free soils of Onyedega. Both eyes are affected  and her vision is very  poor “I cannot do anything again, and my relations are assisting me with my meals as well as with a house.” She becomes quiet and looks with interest at the leaves of a nearby tree, which casts a shadow upon all of us. Years of growing ‘local rice’ using tools like hoes, sticks and cutlasses or just their bare hands  has left many women with declining vision and other health challenges  in the Idah-Ibaji area  of Kogi state. Dr. Raymond N. Osafuomwan of  the Unique Eye Centre, Abuja thinks that  the cornea might have been affected when the seedlings flew into the eye of the women, and he assures  that there is a cure for the condition. His words “I think it’s cornea ulcer, cornea laceration or cornea abrasion, and all these could be treated.” He now explains these  conditions “Cornea abrasion occurs when tiny foreign bodies enter the eye,and the example of rice is a perfect instance of this. Cornea laceration is a much deeper cut, while cornea ulcer occurs when the abrasion or lesion is not treated.” 

 

 

Most of the rice is grown in Ibaji which is blessed with rich alluvial soils and a skilled work force, while the rice mills and related structures are located at Idah, which has a large population  of men and women talented in the art of milling and transporting the crop to distant locations. The men are involved in aspects of milling as well as in transportation. It is not surprising that many women experiencing  visual impairment can be found in Ibaji .The women rice farmers possess an inner strength which pushes them to forge ahead with their work despite the health issues, for it is from it that they feed  and educate their children ,and many of the women play the role of breadwinners in their respective households. One woman refers to a son who recently graduated from the University of Lagos. She can’t remember the course he studied, but her vivid description of his tools seems to suggest that he has a degree in Architecture. During the harvest  women beat the rice with sticks, an ancient method they must conform with  since they lack a threshing machine. While doing this some seedlings fly into their eyes, and that is when they begin to have problems with their vision, and sometimes both eyes are affected. But visual impairment means  that they lose the capacity to work their farms and so they stop going to tend the crop, can hardly do any other job  and become  poorer and more reliant on friends and family. A better well equipped local health facility would turn around the fortunes of the women as well as the lives of people in the  area generally. Some of them go up to health facilities in neighbouring Idah, but not many can afford to make the trip or to pay for drugs or go for follow ups, they confess to Daily Trust. They have become stoic and silent and the family suffers. 

 

 

 

Big rice industry

These are women who work the rice farms, and actively steer the industry in this part of the state. They cultivate the earth, sow and nurture the rice crop, and convey the rice in pick up vehicles all the way to Shekene, Idah for milling. After the rice has been milled, some women take the husk a few hundred metres away where the rice is sifted a second time. The women are now covered in fine dust which emerges from the process of sifting, and they joke and laugh and giggle  while the  dust falls  upon them giving the women a light brown complexion. There is no waste in nature, for this rice that is produced is either eaten by the women or sold to others.”

Habibat Mohammed declares “They sift the chaff for grains of rice to feed their families.” She shows that the burnt chaff is also used on farms to serve as manure, explaining that poultry farms also make use  of it. On the women who sift the husk in order to get remnants of the rice, Dr. Osafuomwan  adds that “there are some health implications of their work. That is a carcinogenic problem. They are going to inhale those things and there are  no standard inhaling items among them there. The fact that your eyes, and nose are open, I would like to think that the life span will be significantly impaired. You don’t get to see as you should see, when your eyes are constantly exposed to dust.” The cultivation of ‘local rice’ is a huge industry dominated and governed by women, and  the value chain which is extensive brings life, warmth and an economy to the Idah-Ibaji axis. ‘Local rice’ as it is popularly known, is easily cooked and it is said to be very nutritious. It is very delicious and free of stones, say many  who are not only involved in the trade but  also feed on the rice.

 

 

Women speak

Larai Kadiri admits “There are many women in Onyedega with various eye problems. Mine started  one day when I went to beat the rice with sticks. Some rice flew into my right eye, and soon I wasn’t seeing well again. I cannot read any written document. In fact, today both eyes are affected.” Salamatu Tijani ,another rice farmer, speaks of “eyes that produce fluid every day. I was threshing rice  when it happened. I went to the hospital where I was given medicines. When the drugs finished, the illness continued. I cannot see very well, and I particularly cannot see distant objects.” Fati Alewo is no longer an active participant in rice farming. Hear her “The problem began five years ago while I was threshing rice. Today, I cannot even see the ground, and I cannot farm rice again. People assist me with money and food since I can no longer farm.” Udalor Sunday is one of the two men present  “In 2015 I went to beat the rice as we normally do. Rice entered my eyes and I went to the hospital. But I don’t think the drugs worked. I cannot see  distant objects. I am still farming rice,but in quantity it’s not like before. My income has therefore dropped and my education has also stopped.”

 

 

‘5% have lost  sight’

Boyi Benjamin, Secretary, Ibaji local government and Supervisory Councillor for Agriculture, tells Daily Trust “The need for a threshing machine is urgent.Sometimes,when they are threshing using sticks, the seedlings jump up and enter their eyes, and it has condemned many eyes in the local government. Some of the women have lost one of their  eyes completely. About 5% of the women have lost their eyes  as a result of threshing  using manual methods.”

On women in rice farming, he  emphasises “Women make up 70% of the local government. In a family you can have both mother and daughter involved in the rice business.” He also sheds light on some of the hurdles rice farmers face in the area “One of the challenges farmers go through here is the lack of modern working implements. Many  women use hoes and cutlasses to clear their farms or to weed around the crop. The local government is trying to address these, and is seeking to collaborate with the federal government, in conjunction with the state government to introduce some of these modern working implements. The absence of a threshing machine is a big setback here. Many hours are lost as a result of this situation and many women  are stressed  and develop diseases like chest pain and general body pain. It is a thing of joy that  the women are still able to achieve a lot in the rice trade despite their use of manual systems while farming.”

 

 

‘We need pumping machines’

Ajofe John Egwemi, Onu Ibaji speaks on rice farming within the  local government “Ibaji is an agrarian area. Women here  are very good in rice farming,and they do it more than the men,and as they do so it is not easy. You need machinery to do your land preparation. You need the best breed of rice to have an early harvest, and if it is so good it can be twice in a year. Our women are very involved. They are hardworking and resilient, but when they don’t have all they require, their labour and services are limited. But generally, they are very good, hardworking people and they augment the income from their husbands.

 During a group interview with rice farmers at Onyedega, headquarters of Ibaji local government, Ruth Ogala refers to the problems faced by farmers “We don’t have farm implements. We  need seeds, money, pumping engines,sprayers and pumping tanks.” She adds “We use our hands in doing all these things, and we spend up to six hours on the rice farms. I would spend only two and a half hours if I had the items I have just listed.” She affirms that the rice trade has helped many of the women in the community, and she points to the education of many of the children, saying money for the school fees essentially came from the rice trade. Okolo Joy, another rice farmer speaks in a similar vein “We need capital. We need chemicals, and we don’t have modern farming implements.We use hoes and cutlasses  making us to spend up to six hours on the farm.”

 

 

Many challenges 

“When the farming season approaches, we don’t have capital to start the work, and there are no chemicals and no fertilisers. We don’t  have spraying machines. These are our problems,” says Agnes Ongbali. She adds that she uses her hands to clear the grass since there are no chemicals which could easily have done it. Her words “I want the federal government to give us money, and they should bring fertilizer and spraying machines as well ,both of which would make our work easier.” Asmau Abdulsalam declares “We do not have chemicals and there are no seedlings ,no sprayers. We need water pumpimg machines which we can use when there is no rain. During  the harvest we need a threshing machine to filter the rice. We don’t have this, so we use sticks to beat the rice as a means of extracting the seed.” The women agree that once there is a delay in the rainy season, the rice is disturbed in its growth and this affects the harvest. They  point out that birds also feed on the rice crop, which explains why there are countless scare crows on farms in the area. The women confess that there is no other industry in the area which shows  why many women enter the rice trade, with its many challenges. Comfort Atule explains a few issues critical to the trade “If we have access to water sources,we can do both wet and dry season farming. Those without access to water, or without pumping machines will only do wet season farming.” According to another  woman “Most of my rice dried because I don’t have pumping machines. If a place  ordinarily produces  twenty bags of rice, and  I lose five, that means I will harvest only fifteen bags.” The women do not only develop problems with their vision while threshing rice, the entire process of cultivating the crop is laced with problems. But one moving picture remains  from the three trips made  to Ibaji and Idah  by Daily Trust to investigate this story, and this is the image  of rows of the women   lovingly tending the many rice farms come sun shine or rain. There are others who boil the rice in huge drums shortly after the harvest. Later they will spread the rice  under  the sunshine to dry. Other women appear within the open back of vehicles seated high above the sacks of rice which they are conveying to Idah. It’s a miracle nobody falls down  and it’s a miracle too that the vehicle does move. Women in these parts  go through a lot to  keep home and hearth alive.