By Emmanuel Uffot
In line with its key objectives of supporting small holder producers for productivity and improved facilities as well as highlighting market opportunities for agricultural producers, Solidaridad West Africa, a non-profit international civil society organisation has recommended a sustainable management plan for farmers dealing with oil palms in Akwa Ibom State. The recommendation was handed down by Kenechukwu Onukube, programme manager, oil palm, Solidaridad in Nigeria at the stateMulti-Stakeholders Platform (MSP) workshop held in Uyorecently by the organisation for oil palm farmers in the state.
Onukube whose lecture dwelled on the goal of sustainable management plan for oil palm sector in Akwa Ibom, said such a plan if imbibed by the farmers, would assist them to determine the problems and solutions to many agricultural practices. He also stressed that such a plan should accommodate the economic, social and environmental aspects of farming in order to attain sustainability in farming practices. “We need to come together on a platform to develop a plan for Akwa Ibom oil palm scheme for the next 10 years. If there is no plan there would be problem”. He reiterated the importance of such plan to justify government intervention, arguing that without a sustainable plan on ground, there would be no strong basis to push for either government intervention or any agency for their oil palm.
Onukube, hinged on the economic importance of palm oil which he predicts will remain a global necessity in the coming years, but noted that the challenge remains producing enough quantity to meet expected supply.
He told the participants the immediate challenge was noticed during the organisation’s study on the status of oil palm in the four states captured in its programme including Akwa Ibom. The study according to him, revealed a decrease in yield due to the variety of oil palm trees which affected both the income to the farmers and revenue to government. To prevent the adverse effect of this downward trend that would be experienced in the next 40 to 50 years, he suggested the need to change the prevalent varieties in the landscape which the study revealed are wild varieties.
“That is why you see very tall oil palm trees in the state and many of them have gone beyond their optimal yield level. So,for that to change the improved variety has to replace the wild palm trees and have to do it in phases”. The program manager,said the organisation had selected 48 farmers in Akwa IbomState to work to achieve this goal of enhancing the planting of improved palm seedlings.
Also speaking at the workshop, Ernest Ita and Owai Egong, an agronomist with Solidaridad in Nigeria talked on the worrisome trend of forest degradation in the state in terms of cutting of trees, bush clearance and bush burning. The state of forest degradation observed was a product of a study carried out in the six local governments in Akwa Ibom state, Solidaridad is working in, emphasised the need to imbibe the culture of forest preservation and conservation. Ita, particularly explained the dangers of destruction of riparian buffers in the forest mostly surrounded by rivers leads to agrochemical pollution of rivers and killing of fish. Beyond the disadvantage associated with destruction of the buffers in the forest, he also frowned at other improper agricultural practices prevalent among farmers like uncontrolled application of fertilizers on bare soil which leads to greenhouse gases emission contributing to global warming. Both resource persons advised that one of the ways to check forest degradation and reclaim the advantage inherent in forest preservation is to plant oil palm trees at where the forest trees were cut.
The Solidaridad’s instructors, revealed that their case study of oil palm farming in Akwa Ibom since 2019 revealed that 73 percent of oil palm farmers are in the age bracket of 52, 82 percent of farm owners belong to farmers association and thy got the farms through inheritance, while 90 percent of farmers depend on hand tools for cultivation, 91 percent depend on rainfall for irrigation and majority of those working on farms and oil mills are women.
The workshop which drew farmers from the six local government areas captured by Solidaridad had the state Commissioner for Agriculture and Food Sufficiency Dr OffiongOffor and the Permanent Secretary Mrs Mary Ukoette in attendance. In her remark, the commissioner who spoke through the Permanent Secretary appreciated Solidaridad for supporting and equipping farmers in the state with skills and knowledge needed to achieve improvement in the agricultural sector. She noted that such support complements the efforts of Governor Udom Emmanuel administration towards achieving food security and sufficiency in the state.
“We all know that His Excellency Governor Udom Emmanuel has always supported farmers with inputs all geared towards improving food security and sufficiency in the state. So,government appreciates Solidaridad for this initiative. In many years you have supported his Excellency food security and sufficiency agenda. Thank you for complementing the effort of this administration, thank you for being a dependable partner”.
One of the highlights of the workshop, was the division of the participants into working groups to come with a workable agenda for the promotion of sustainable management plan for oil palm farmers in Akwa Ibom. While constituting the farmers into working groups, the programme manager admonished them to redouble their efforts by taking advantage of the first phase of Solidaridad’s National Initiatives for Sustainable and Climate Smart Oil Palm Small holders (NISCOPS) five-year programme which ends in 2023.
Participants in the workshop were drawn from oil palm farmers and stakeholders from Uyo, Etim Ekpo, Nsit-Atai, IbesikpoAsutan, Okobo and Ikot Ekpene local government areas of Akwa Ibom state.
The International civil society organisation is currently implementing NISCOPS in four states in Nigeria namely, AkwaIbom, Cross River State, Enugu and Kogi states with emphasis on oil palm.
