Orokoro is a community situated in Ehe Amufu, Isi Uzo LGA Enugu state. Most indigenes of the Orokoro community are farmers. They are blessed with a fertile ground. Their main crop for cultivation is Palm seed. They also plant cassava, rice, corn, and okra. Most community members are farmers, but their agricultural practices are outdated. They spend the majority of their capital during planting season on procuring chemical fertilizers and pesticides. They also struggled with sustainable water supply for their farms. This reduces the yield of produce post-harvest and affects their profit margin negatively due to the cost incurred pre-harvest. They work tirelessly during the farming season and have little to show for it.
Smallholder farmers in Nigeria, particularly in Enugu State, face significant challenges hindering agricultural development. These challenges include limited access to crucial agricultural information, outdated farming practices, and the adverse impacts of climate change. According to research, smallholder farmers encounter various constraints, such as inadequate access to information, hindering their ability to adopt modern and sustainable farming methods.
Additionally, climate change poses a severe threat to agriculture in Nigeria, impacting farmers across different agro-ecological zones. Research by the Food and Agriculture Organization shows that post-harvest loss caused by climate change is responsible for one-third of the waste of agricultural produce each year. Even more so, pre-harvest losses. Farmers perceive the effects of climate change and struggle with coping strategies, affecting productivity and livelihoods.
The need for sustainable farming practices, such as agroecology, is evident as NGOs engage in training initiatives to address the challenges faced by Enugu State farmers. However, there remains a pressing need to address information gaps, promote climate-resilient practices, and enhance overall agricultural sustainability in the region.
South Saharan Social Development Organization in partnership with ActionAid Nigeria, through the Local Rights Programme, LRP, conducted a three-day training on Agroecology for the community farmers. This training was aimed at addressing the agricultural issues the community faced. Topics like reducing chemical pesticides and fertilizers, using natural pesticides and compost, sustainable water management, and shifting cultivation were covered.
The team collaborated with the Ministry of Agriculture to engage the services of an Agricultural Development Programme, ADP, staff to facilitate this training. Twenty-four community farmers were trained on modern agricultural practices, which was stepped down to other community farmers. The President General, PG, and other attendees of the initial training facilitated this step-down training. Palm seed is a major crop planted in this community. After the training, a model farm with twenty-seven palm seedlings was set up, and each farmer who partook in the training got two seedlings to plant on their farms.
This community has started practicing modernized farming. The Model farm is being nurtured using organic fertilizer against chemical fertilizers used before. This was also applied to their farms. They used the droppings from their livestock as compost. This compost was achieved using the process taught during the training. The farmers were able to save money on procuring chemical fertilizers and pesticides this farming season.
The money saved from this was re-invested in procuring seedlings, which will increase their output and profit margin post-harvest. They focused on naturally sourced pesticides like ash and natural compost to improve their farming technique. The community saw the importance of boosting their socio-economic status through the model farm, and they added twenty palm seedlings, two orange seedlings, and three coconut seedlings (improved seedlings).
Priye West, the LRP Officer expressed her satisfaction with the activity’s impact, “As the program officer who facilitated the agroecology training, I am pleased to see the community committing to what has been taught and putting it to use. I hear excitement when they talk about the progress they have made, from the step-down training to procuring the additional improved seedlings. The agroecology training activity had a positive impact on this community.”
Steven Kalu, a community beneficiary also shared his happiness with the intervention, ” I am happy with the intervention of SSDO in our community. The team has been working in our community for a while. They come to see our children and have meetings with our women, and honestly, everything they bring to our community has been good.”
He highlighted some of the challenges the community faced and how they struggled to optimize yield.
“Before they came, we had been having challenges with how we were going to culture our crops, we produced rice cassava, yam, tree crops like palms, and fruit crops like oranges and coconut. We had issues with the chemicals we use for our crops; instead of helping the crops they damage the farmland, and when I was informed by the PG that they wanted to help us tackle the issues we had in the past about farming, I was very impressed and grateful.”
“I am a farmer, and I know the challenges we have faced in the community regarding farming and the use of chemicals, pesticides, and fertilizers, even the economic implications. The three-day training was intense and very engaging. I learned a lot, like using Ash to prevent viral infection and pests on plants, how to make natural manure from animal droppings, and the best water retention techniques during planting.”
“Some of these things were even practiced on the model farm. This farming season, I applied all that learning to use, and I must say, I can see the positive results already, I used the ash on my rice farm, it was attacked by some viral infection, and it worked like magic. The money I used to use and buy chemicals before has been saved, and I can always source ash from my comfort zone.”
“In fact, after we were taught how to combine animal husbandry and farming, I started my poultry again, and I have been using their dung for manure, the amount of money I saved is amazing. Next year I intend to add more palms to my plantation as well, I believe it is going to give me a better yield because I will apply the techniques taught during this training. I am thankful to AAN and SSDO for their intervention, it has helped us economically, improved our knowledge of what we know, and added more.”
South Saharan Social Development Organization is committed to empowering marginalized communities with socioeconomic facilities to help them compete favorably and ensure an improved quality of life.
