By Emmanuel Ndon
The Back to Farm Initiative is a strategic intervention targeted at returning people especially the youths and families to the land for employment and empowerment. It came at a time when the problem of food security had taken center stage and agriculture must be seen not as the work of old folks and those left behind in the scheme of development but as a modern, profitable enterprise that guarantees inclusive development.
The program recognizes that a state cannot sustain itself economically and grow unless its food production base is enhanced. Agriculture is seen by stakeholders and indeed by many states as one of the best ways of creating jobs, solving problems of unemployment, eradicating poverty and improving local industries and this led to the creation of the Back to Farm initiative in Akwa Ibom State by Governor Umo Eno. The idea is to make agriculture a dependable economic base for state growth.
One of the many positive impacts of this initiative is to bring people back to land ownership and working the soil for economic sustenance. This endeavor helps to reestablish connection of people to the land which has been lost by younger generation because it is now believed not to be a very attractive occupation and neither profitable in that it has to be mechanized, with all that it entails, from owning a farm to a profitable agricultural business. The Back to Farm initiative is seeking to remove this psychological burden.
It will serve as a solution to youth unemployment which has remained a thorny issue that has led to many challenges in society. This has a great potential for absorbing more people into the job market since agriculture is a large sector of employment that can accommodate many people in different niches of farming; crop production, livestock farming, fishing, aquaculture, food processing, storage, transportation, distribution, sales and more. This makes it a viable option.
Back to Farm program is not just about planting crops but turning farming into a business that will bring sustainable growth for household income and revenue. When agriculture is turned into an industry like it used to be, with farmers equipped with necessary seedlings, fertilizers, pesticides, machines, extension services and storage facility, and linked with markets, food production can reach a high level of profitability for the individual and for the state.
The initiative is important from the point of view of food security. As we know that food is essential for every human life and that we now face challenges such as increase in cost of food globally, climate change effects on food production and unstable supply chain of food products in many countries, states have to invest and promote the production of foods internally by returning farmers to land in large scale.
The program can promote rural development which means rural infrastructure and people must be developed. The need for food is always there hence there is no doubt of marketability of the product, so we will need access to rural infrastructure for road, storage and transportation of agricultural goods which will contribute to rural development in the state.
It can be called a socially inclusive policy because the program targets everyone who wants to partake in it, including women, youth and cooperative societies, as well as small-scale farmers in the state. This will enable everybody to leverage it for betterment and it has the capacity to positively impact households’ well-being and improve standards of living of citizens.
It can help restore honor and pride to local produce; as our society has always seen some occupations to be beneath them, and this has made our local produce being relegated and the people who work with them seen as backward and unprofessional. But the initiative can bring respect back to these occupations by showing that people involved in them are equally valuable and that local produce are competitive to imported ones, thus promoting them and the welfare of those involved.
Success of such program relies on support by the government and private sectors. Farmers will need a package of support in areas such as provision of seedlings, fertilizers, seedlings, information on modern farming techniques, access to finance (loans) and information about markets for their produce. Without this support, it will be difficult for people to return to farming as a way of life or business on a large scale; with good planning and implementation, it can yield dividends.
The initiative will promote farming as an occupation that needs knowledge and as a profession which is worthy of respect from citizens, thereby changing the common narrative that agriculture is meant for only poor and old citizens and by extension, restoring honor and professionalism into it. This will make young men and women in the state to embrace it and practice it.
It can contribute to alleviating economic hardship in this era of high cost of food and climate and economic instabilities which pose great danger to human and state stability, hence every state needs to grow her own food as a food security measure and as the basis for sustainable economy for all round development of the state.
It also supports the idea of value chain development where we do not only go back to the land to plant but also promote food processing, storage, transportation and marketing which have a wide variety of job opportunities. Thus making agricultural activities an engine for the welfare of the citizens at large.
In terms of its impact on the development indices, the initiative focuses on consumption instead of production as the society depends on importations of foreign food products for consumption and thus becoming non-producers in their own land but it will allow the citizens to focus on production on a large scale and thereby building the capacity of a state in terms of resource utilization.
The Back to Farm Initiative is about changing lives and bringing back the spirit of cultivation to build, self-reliance, prosperity and welfare for the people of Akwa Ibom State. It’s more than planting a crop, it’s about cultivating an opportunity. It’s all about the future and not about the past. If maintained well, the state would not regret her decision on the project which could later be counted among one of the strongest policy initiatives of the state.
