From Judex Okoro, Calabar
Cross River farmers have stated that one of the reasons the southern part of Nigeria seems dependent on the North for food was because of the oil deposits found in some southern communities.
In separate interviews with some farmers, they argued that oil exploration and other economic activities have dealt a heavy blow on the soil in most oil-producing communities, thereby making farming an unviable business in the South.
In a chat with Mr. Godswill Kanjal, an Ogoja-based farmer, he said shifting cultivation and the culture of not allowing women own land, as well as family ownership of land in traditional societies, especially in northern Cross River State, have made things difficult for farmers or those willing to go into farming as business.
Kanjal, who is into palm and rice farming, said lack of incentives to farmers in the South has contributed to low productivity, compared to their northern counterparts that are provided with huge incentives such as agro schemes that target small-holder farmers.
According to him, even when some of these incentives are brought to the South, they are hijacked by political office holders, who convert them to other uses.
He also listed lack of modern technical know-how in farming and climate change as challenges facing farmers in the state, adding that farmers have lost their crops to unexpected drought and flooding, as the case may be.
However, Emmah Una, a Yala-based rice farmer, said the South was not completely dependent on the North for food because each community had its own natural resources and soil texture.
He said: “In Cross River, we produce garri, fish, yam, rice and plantain. The North brings in onions and tomatoes, which our people are producing now. I think what we have is normal trade with the North.”