Agriculture from where I'm from is known as a culture before the world recognised it as a source of income. we engage in agriculture as a hobby something we love doing. different countries have some kind of culture they are known for, for Nigerians among such culture we are known for is Agri-culture. a practice passed down from generation to generation which has made Nigeria economy thrive to high places during those days when agriculture was practised across the nation. though we were not developed in terms of infrastructure and technologies but we were happy because prices of commodities were not beyond what we could afford since there was sufficient farm products creating and endless circle of food supply.A part of me would have gladly blamed civilisation for the present state of this practice but that wouldn't make it get any better.
To an extent I was privileged to be born in the 90s when agriculture still thrives though not for long. Growing up in a town called ketu in Lagos State, a semi developed area. there wasn't any sort of farms around, all you would see are buildings, industrial houses and companies. having to grow up in such area I never knew a practice such as agriculture existed apart from what I learnt in school but it was different from having to experience it, having to feel it, all I heard was theory. it is kind of hard to miss something that you are not aware of its existence but then everything gradually changed as my late grandmother continued to visit and came along with farm products from the village. well it is no longer a village anymore.
I slowly began to pay attention to the items she brought, it was different from the ones we bought in the market because it was fresh and more healthy, to an extent it taste better. So whenever we visited my grandmother's village, my first thought would be to follow them to the farm. those days my late grandmother doesn't farm anymore but she still had farm lands used by her relatives for farming. the more we visited the village the more my passion for agriculture grew. you have no idea how it feels to watch plants grow, to harvest whatever you need to eat by yourself, it is an unfathomable feeling that transcends all senses.
After a while we moved from ketu to my father's new apartment he built in ikorodu. compared to our former residential area this new neighbourhood is just like a village or should I say a town under development, a new site. On getting here it felt a little strange because everything was different but similar to my grandmother's village. during those days the primary occupation of most people in this area waa farming and raring of animals. two things I love the most existing in once which is raring of livestock animals and farming.
I fell in love with our new home instantly, I was really happy having to have something close to a wild life experience. we have two land here, one is where our home was built and the other is just an empty fenced plot of land but never knew my father agricultural fantasies were similar to mine. the more my late grandmother came to visit in those days, gradually she taught us how to farm, my dad really paid a lot of attention to it. that was how it all began. we were not the only one farming in the area so borrowing some farming tools and ideas were not difficult.
In those days we don't buy vegetables or fruits such as mangoes, pawpaw, watermelon, pineapple, banana, plantains, lemon e.t.c. there was abundance of it, even if you want to buy from someone it was as cheap as purchasing a sachet water. We were galavanting in the joy of never having to worry about what to eat or spend too much on farm products, such were the kind of joy we felt. though there was not much infrastructure available such as roads, stable means of transportation, pharmacy, clinics which are also essential to human survival but we never truly needed much of it because we were eating sufficient healthy meals and we had a lot of herbs at our disposal.
But then the happiness was short lived because infrastructural development is something that occurs to every area eventually laying waste to agriculture. as developers swept in gradually they started purchasing the farm lands bit by bit by offering the farmers good amount of money. That was how availablity of farm products started to shrink little by little till there is almost nothing left of lands used for agriculture. for example check out this two images below👇👇👇.
| An existing Farm | A former farm land |
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This two images were taken from two different places but have something In common, the first image is a farm land that is still being used for farming but the second image is a house that used to be a farm land but not just any farm land. the land was used to farm and rare poultry/ domestic livestock animals by a local farmer but when estate developers started purchasing every land around this farm, the man owning this farm was pressured into selling off his farm land because the new owners of the lands around him believed his farm attracts wild reptiles like snakes to the area. which might be true but what happened next was very funny.
After a house was built on the land that used to be a farm land, the owner of the house refused to move in ever since this house has been built for over 6 years. I guess the owner is one of those rich people that builds houses without having the intention of moving in. We call this is house "The ghost house", when this house was built it was one of the prettiest house in the area but now it is just one of those houses that is gradually fading away. when this house used to be a farm a lot of people benefited from it including my mom who bought a lot of cat fish and juveniles to start our family fish pond, she also learnt how to manage a fish pond from the owner of the farm for free. the only thing that lives in this abandoned house for over 6 years are the same reptiles and wild animals people were so scared of and there is nothing they can do about it.
We still managed to continue farming on our own land though not for commercial reasons. we still manage to plant and harvest some of the things we consume e.g cassava, plantain et.c
| Cassava harvest | Plantain harvest |
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My love for agricultural practice is known on this platform, I have occasionally written on different agricultural practices, product and preventive measures which you could read for helpful farming ideas.
- The Cassava harvest
- Cassava Flour making process
- My garden plantain harvest
- Preventive measures for plantain before harvest
A lot of estate developers have pressured my dad to sell our farm land but he didn't to the extent we had to write "this land is not for sale" boldly in front of it. just to have a moment of peace from developers parading our land.
As a result of lack of agricultural practice and reduction in lands used for agriculture the rate at which prices of commodity and products have skyrocketed is alarming to the extent that it is difficult to manage 3 square meal without spending a large of some of money on the cost in an area that used to have an abundance of everything. this just proves that we have less farmers in the field and the numbers of available farm products we have is not enough to feed our population. Those who manage to keep their farm lands now sell farm products at high prices, I can't blame them they no longer have much competitors.
Truthfully I would really love to bring back the old days when agriculture was practised but to be realistic how exactly am I going to do that? the decline in the practice of agriculture is something that is happening everywhere in Nigeria not just my community and it will continue until someday people realise how much damage they are doing to our economy and if by chance the government wakes up from their slumber and find a way to create a balance between infrastructural development and agricultural practice by emphasizing more on the need to invest and engage in agricultural practice instead of promoting creation of modernized building structures across the nation.
This write-up was inspired by weekly featured content titled "Bring it back" in hive learners community.
Cover image - 𝖣𝖾𝗌𝗂𝗀𝗇𝖾𝖽 𝗎𝗌𝗂𝗇𝗀 𝖼𝖺𝗇𝗏𝖺
Image 1 - Source
All images are mine or else stated otherwise