Jos — If you think
that certain imported exotic fruits seen in some of the biggest shopping
malls cannot grow in Nigeria, you better have a rethink! Every city in
the country can grow something unique. Nigeria is a blessed country with
different agro ecological zones having huge potentials.
Strawberry, an
exotic fruit, which until now does not receive any serious attention as
one of the fruits grown in the country, is now the most important
produce that shapes the economic power of the people of Chaha community.
The community,
located at the outskirt of Vom, Plateau State, gives the heart-shaped
fruit the desired attention from the day they discovered it has the
potentials to change their fortune and lift them from the shackles of
poverty.
This reporter,
prompted by the sale of the produce to motorists along Jos-Abuja Road in
Jos, traced its origin to Chaha village where everybody seems to have a
strawberry farm- although there are few other strawberry farmers in
Jos, Plateau State capital.
A farmer does not
need to buy the seed or seedlings every farming year. This is because
the vines after production can be transferred as seedlings to another
plot in the new farming season. This quality leaves farmers with no
burden of looking for seed each planting season. Their major burden is
manure, fertiliser and market.
Nuhu Samuel is a
29-year-old strawberry farmer. He told the reporter that he got into the
farming after he saw his father making money from it. Although he said
he cannot tell where his father got the seed from, he got the seedlings
from him.
The father of two
children stated that he plants in July and harvests in November. He
sells in killogramme-N700 to N1, 000 per kilogramme.
Samuel gets 30 to
40 killogrammes from his farm twice a week, which helps him to pocket
between N28, 000 to N40, 000. For him water supply to the farm is not
much of a problem because some of the mining pods serve as mini
irrigation dams that supply water to his farms.
A farmer does not
need to buy the seed or seedlings every farming year. This is because
the vines after production can be transferred as seedlings to another
plot in the new farming season. This quality leaves farmers with no
burden of looking for seed each planting season. Their major burden is
manure, fertiliser and market.
They are sold in kilogram with prices ranging from N700 to N1, 000 per kilogramme.
The reporter seeks
to know where he sells his produce or if he has challenges selling it,
and he said: "We have one man who comes from Abuja to buy the produce
from us. We normally take it to him in Vom. Apart from him, some women
who sell the produce along the major roads in and around Jos come here
to buy."
On how much he
makes from it in a season, he said: "It depends, there are seasons that
we make between N300, 000 to N400, 000 while in some seasons, I make up
to N1 million from my two plots alone."
Isaac Michael is a
22-year-old strawberry farmer in the community. He was working in his
farm when the reporter met him. He said that he was inspired to farm by
Thomas Choji, who he said started the strawberry farming in the
community.
Unlike Samuel who
has been farming it for the past five years, Michael is a new comer into
strawberry farming after seeing other young farmers of his age making
money from it.
"I could not start
earlier because I did not save enough money to buy the seedlings because
it is too expensive. But July last year, I managed to save money from
my cabbage and carrot farm to buy the strawberry seedlings which I
planted in this farm."
According to him,
each seedling costs N200. He said he has no problem with water supply as
his farm is located at the bank of a lake constructed by miners.
Michael is now
harvesting four cartons worth of strawberry every week. Each of those
cartons contains five killogrammes of the produce. But how much does he
sell a killogramme?
"It depends on the
forces that shape the market such as glut and scarcity. Between October
and December, it is usually very expensive. So we sell for between N900
and N1, 000 a kilo. But now, the product is plenty as you can see.
During the heat period-because it is heat that facilitates its growth,
we sell for between N700 and N800 per kilogramme."
"Before the season
ends in April, I will make N400, 000, I could even make more if I get a
better market," the 22-year-old man said.
"But honestly, it
is not easy for us to sell it here. If you harvest it and keep it,
before tomorrow it will change its colour. You must get the person who
wants to buy before you harvest it, if not you can't harvest it and keep
it. Unless you have a cooling system like the refrigerator before you
can do that. This is a big challenge for us here."
For Patrick Mancha,
a 45 year-old-father of five, the idea of starting a strawberry farm
came to him when, as a worker on other peoples' farms, he saw how the
farmers were making money from it.
With the money he
realised from working for others, he established his own farm, which
gives him money to feed his family and send his children to some of the
expensive schools in Jos.
Mancha said he
sells strawberry in cartons, which weigh 5.5 killogrammes at the price
of N3, 600. The day the reporter visited the farm, he harvested 70
killogrammes from only one of the three strawberry farms, which he does
twice a week.
Conducting the
reporter round his farms, Patrick stressed that he will harvest 150
killogrammes if it reaches March which will give him approximately N105,
000 weekly if he sells at the least price of N700 per killogramme.
"Last year I
realised N300, 000 from the small farmland I cultivated. This year, I
have decided to expand the land to three plots. As you can see, the 70kg
I harvested did not include the other farms. If I add those ones I may
get 120kg and that will be twice a week."
Choji Emmanuel is
one of the biggest strawberry farmers in Chaha. In a chat with the
reporter, he stressed that the major challenge of strawberry farmers in
the community is lack of market for the produce in Jos.
He told the
reporter that he has attended many workshops organised for strawberry
farmers on the Plateau but nothing happened afterwards.
The 29-year-old
lamented that the community produces strawberry enough to meet any
buyer's demand, yet they rely on few individuals and retailers to buy
from them.
"We know how to
farm strawberry here, but the market is our problem. We want people and
companies to know that we have enough of this fruit here. What we need
now is just the market."
Emmanuel has been
in strawberry production for over six years. He recalled one particular
year when he couldn't find buyers for the product, making them to record
huge losses.
"We know there are
people who need this product somewhere in Nigeria but we don't know how
to locate them. I hope one day, some of these people will find us here."
According to him,
even though they have Strawberry Farmers Association in the community,
the leaders are not educated to help members locate where the markets
for their produce lie in the country.
This reporter made
effort to speak to the leaders of the association but failed because
they were all out of the village trying to find buyers.
Speaking to many
farmers in Chaha community it was discovered that they have the same
challenge-market for their produce. They want to know where to meet
buyers.
Even the government
at the state and local levels do not seem to work for the interest of
their famers who can make the state a hub for horticulture in Africa.
Despite huge potentials created by its unique weather, the Plateau State
and its local governments have failed its farmers. Even the federal
government failed to see the billions of Naira lying untapped on the
Plateau.
For the community,
access to good road, link to bulk buyers and basic inputs such as water
pumping machines and fertiliser continue to elude them.
Efforts to get the
local government authorities and the state commissioner of agriculture
to comment on these matters also failedSource: Allafrica.com
