Jephtah Omavuega is a young vegetable farmer, who farms 3 hectares of cucumber and cassava. Omavuega in this interview tells JOSEPHINE OKOJIE that youth will only find agriculture attractive when there is innovation in the sector.
What inspired you into farming?
I started farming at a very tender age. My parents are farmers and my love for agriculture inspired me into farming. After my graduation from the university, I picked up a teaching job to raise capital for my farming project. After two years in the teaching profession, I was able to get enough money for the purchase of inputs and lease of land for the project.
Why are youths not finding agriculture attractive and what can government do to ensure youths take up agric as a profession?
The youths have not seen anything thing on ground that would attract them into agriculture. Farmers in the rural areas are very poor because most of them do not get any value addition since the whole primary production is still entangled in poverty with the issue of low productivity and high time spent on farmlands. This makes youth not to take agriculture as a profession even those that study courses on agriculture in school.
The crude way of farming in the country is another reason why youths do not find agriculture attractive. Government must develop mechanisation and give the youths access to lands. This way, agriculture becomes more attractive to youths. We need innovation to do farming differently from the older generation of farmers who were mostly entangled in poverty.
Government must give assistance to finance and land. Some of my friends I tell about my profit margins want to go into farming but cannot access land.
No youth wants to go to the rural areas to take up farming because the infrastructures there are poor. The government must provide key infrastructural facilities so that youth can take up agric as a profession.
Youth need mechanisation, innovative ways to do agriculture, finance, infrastructure and a guaranteed market for their produce.
What are some of your challenges?
The major challenge farmers are currently facing is the high cost of farm inputs. The prices of seeds, fertilizers, pesticides, herbicides and labour have all increased by more than 30 percent in recent months. This has increased our expenses and reduced our profit margins. Getting tractors on time is another challenge we face. I applied for a tractor for ploughing and tilling, it took me two months before I could lease for my farm. The tractors are not sufficient and they are too expensive to hire. Land acquisition and leasing is a major challenge. Real estate firms are taking over farming areas.
When did you start your farming business and what was your initial capital?
I started my farming business with N200,000 last year and I have made over 38 percent profit margins. This year alone, I have harvested my cucumber three times. It takes forty-five days for you to plant and harvest cucumber.
The federal government is talking about diversification. How can agriculture play a leading role?
Government must take a desired effort to revolutionise agriculture, without which the sector cannot earn the much needed foreign exchange for the country through export of agric commodities. If the government just sits and keeps talking without addressing the structural problems, the sector will not play a leading role.
There is need for the government to dialogue with the private sector and find ways on how to mechanise the rural farmers, how to improve high yield inputs, how to improve fertilizers, how best farmers can harvest, and how to guarantee economic value to primary producers and guaranteed market for agricultural produce. We have been talking about diversification through agriculture for a very long time but nothing to show for it.
Can agriculture take the country out of recession?
Yes agriculture can take us out of recession if the government is very serious about it.
JOSEPHINE OKOJIE
