Fulani, Falae and The Oldest Battle

I read with alarm and sadness that Fulani's have attacked the farm premises of Olu Falae in the Obaile residence of the elder statesman and former Secretary to the Government of the Federation.

According to Premium Times, about 10 Fulani herdsmen also attacked the farm of Falae, on Sunday, taking one of the security guards at the residence hostage. The security guard was later found dead on Thursday. His body was discovered by the police in a pool of water some miles away from Falae farm.

The matter was said to have been handled quietly by the police on the behest of the Falae family. The family reportedly deserted their house for fear that they will be attacked again. It would be recalled that the former SGF was last year kidnapped by some Fulani herdsmen, who are currently facing criminal prosecution for the abduction. Falae was, however, released by his abductors after paying N5 million ransom.

This constant battle between rogue Fulani men and farmers have been on the increase across the country. The whole of Plateau state and Benue are used to the constant battle between farmers and Fulani men. This has become a major problem that needs to be addressed by our policy makers. The agriculture community are aware of the importance of these nomads to our economy as intensive rearing of cattle are still above the level of sophistication displayed by most farms in Nigeria at the moment and with such large mass of land unused, that makes for perfect grazing grounds.

The problem is that Nigeria's grazing reserves have been systematically depleted or allocated to large corporations to use as farming lands. This combined with the rise in cattle rustling in the past years have made the Fulani's feel aggrieved and create a level of tension.

The Ministry of Agriculture would do the nation a massive favor in its push towards delivering milk to school students if we made the cattle and dairy industry an efficient entity. Grazing lands are a non-negotiable. Planting resistance and nutrient rich grazing plants like the alfalfa plant across vast grazing lands across the country would definitely help in sequestering the movements of these Fulani herdsmen. The battle between settlers and nomads is the oldest fight known to man. it can run deep and bloody so should not be ignored for much longer by the government. We need policies implemented to handle this situation.

My sympathies goes to those that were harmed or lost their lives during the attack on Chief Olu Falae's farm and hope the police would speedily conclude their investigations.

Have a good day.

KOA

Today's Hunger and Tommorow's Food

The food of the future are being discussed and designed while most are still wondering about todays food. The recent troubles of the global seeds giants Mosanto, against the backlash of popular opinion mainly powered by campaigns ochestrated over social networks (facebook, avaaz, twitter, etc) served as a reminder of unresolved debates about food and intellectual property patents and by a further stretch -organic agricultural methods vs conventional farming methods. 

A shift in policy emphasizing on re-investment and revamping of the agricultural sector has been noticed globally. "Food security" has slowly crept into the discourse of sustainability, climate change and the future ecomomy. The need for crops and livestock that can adapt to climatic changes and adverse conditions have gained prime importance amongst the first world economies. The developing economies, still battling hunger, poverty and unemployment face an uneviable task of proffering solutions for todays poor and ensuring the security of tommorow's food. Raising productivity of farmers in an emerging economies like ours is one way of reducing hunger, but that is just one head of the beast. Hunger is caused by poverty and inequality and definitely not due to lack of food. The world already produces enough to feed 10 billion people (the forecast for global population by 2050) but most of that population can't afford to buy this food. The reality is, most farmers live below the poverty lines. Combating hunger would require policies to foremostly address the conditions that ensure poverty amongst over 70% of our population. Access to sizeable plots of land for cultivation, financial facilities tailored to the peculiar needs of farmers, proper training and education are practical ways to reducing poverty and improving the quality of life of farmers.

The allusion that genetically selected or modified food is a ready made solution to overcoming the issues of food security is unfounded and probably wrong. The possibility that the crops our poor farmers would use in future are being patented today is extremely worrisome, this could go a long way in controlling the price and demands of tommorows food. Recently a news report in The Guardian annouced bodly :" The future wellbeing of millions of Africans may rest in the unlikely hands of a vegan hippy scientist working for a sweet company who plans to map and then give away the genetic data of 100 traditional crops"

These crops include yam, cassava and cocoa. The man of the moment : Howard-Yana Shapiro described rather poetically as "The Hippy from Mars". Since he joined Mars (Yes! the multibillion dollar sweets and chocolate factory), Shapiro has been credited with making the company go sustainable. Based on his influence as the Director Of Agriculture for Mars, the company announced it would "contribute $10m to a project to map the cacao tree genome and publish it for free to speed up the development of quicker-growing and more resilient varieties." The only snag to projects like these, is that while its a laudable step to include Yams, Cassava and other tropical crops that are not of interest to the other seed and food corporations, the main motivation for Mars is quite apparent - a steady supply of cocoa. While over three fourth of the world's cocoa is produced in Africa (mainly Ghana and Ivory Coast), the final products i.e. coffee, chocolate bars and beverages are consumed mainly by the first world economies. Those who can afford this products and actively purchase them represent quaint outliers of the overall populations here.

Decoding these 'orphan crop' genomes could make a huge difference to the national and global economy, saving millions of lives in Africa from poverty would require concerted investments on Agricultural training and developing an entrepreneurial approach towards agriculture. It is only then we can begin to influence the R&D departments that are churning out tommorow's food. It is only then we can assure today's food.

ANIMAL HUSBANDRY TIPS (SNAILS)

This is document is courtesy of Youth Agro Entrepreneur (YAE).

Snail farming is a very lucrative venture that has gained popularity and renewed interests in recent times amongst part time and young farmers who are in need of an alternate , means of income . Amongst the various forms of animal husbandry, it is considered to be relatively easier, less labour intensive and with minimal time consumption. The ability to set up and operate a snail hatchery as a secondary activity is one of the key reasons for its renewed popularity and interest.

In this document, you would be guided through some of the basics of snail farming ( tips, starter points and salient issues every snail farmer should know)

This is not a complete operational procedure, more information can be obtained via search engines ( google, bing etc ) online and directly by engaging consultants.

Brief Overview

Snails are invertebrates, which means they lack a backbone. They belong to a large and highly diverse group of invertebrates known as the Phylum Mollusca (also known more commonly as 'mollusks'). The Phylum Mollusca includes slugs, clams, oysters, mussels, squids, octopuses, and nautiluses, in addition to snails.

Though "Snails" is a term loosely used to describe shelled members of the mollusc phylum, agriculturally we are interested in three main species

1. Achachatina spp 
2. Achatina-achatina spp 
3. Achatina Fullica spp 

Achachatina Spp:

These are the biggest in size and therefore the most preferred for consumption and commercial snail farming. They are less reproductive and need 6 months to start laying eggs. ( note all Snail species are hemaphrodites). They typically lay between 80-100 eggs per year and take 24 days to hatch. Adult sized achachatina can grow to approximately 350- 500 grams.

Achatina-achatina spp:
They are not as big as achaachatina in size but are generally more productive. They lay between 200-400 eggs per year and incubate in 20-22 days. They are sexually active from the 6th month and adults weigh up to 250kg.

Achatina Fullica spp:
These are the most productive specie, but are relatively smaller than the otber two species. They also take 6 months to reach sexually active stage and produce 400 -600 egg, which can be incubated in 15 days. They can grow to 80g in body mass and are mainly used for feeding fish, etc.

FEEDING

Snails are omnivorous. They eat mainly leaves, vegetables and rotten fruits in the wild. For effecient snail rearing, the farmer needs to incorporate natural feeds and compounded feeds to ensure that the snails gain all the required nutrional needs for their different stages of growth. Compunded feeds are available from the markets and large scale snail hatcheries around your chosen area. For farmers who can afford it and can readily find all the needed raw materias, a consultant can be employed to formulate suitable feeds for your snails.

When feeding them please AVOID BITTER tasting vegetables, as this would ruin the taste of your snails and reduce its marketability.

Approximately 30 grammes of food per day is consumed by each snail. Feeding should be done late in the evening (from 5 pm) or at night ( this makes it ideal as a secondary activity). The hatchery needs to be watered and left damp BEFORE feeding. This is required to draw out the snails to consume their feed immediately. Left-over food should be removed from the hatchery to avoid ants and insects invading your hatchery.

SOIL TEST, PREMISES SET-UP & SECURITY

There are a variety of innovative and improvised premises/hatchery used for the rearing of snails to micmic the habitat they are found, in the wild. The decision of what type to use is usually decided by the funds available to the young farmer and also the size of supplies he or she aims to meet. There are a few basic guiding rules. Snails survive best in DAMP, HUMID environments not water logged lands! A common mistake made is to flood the land for rearing snails.

Avoid clay soil, stony land and water logged areas.

Build a shelter for your snails- a roof (thatch, zinc ) mud house or just a plant canopy (Banana trees, Palm Trees are popular choices)

If you must build a house, avoid direct sunlight and cement floors. !

LAND PREPARATION

Mulch soil with banana leaves, and fertilize soil with animal droppings and compost.

Till the soil under the canopy with the compost at 30cm height then irrigate for two weeks.

Till soil again with dry compost matter, preferably avoid animal droppings, as they would generate heat during their decomposition, which is not good for your snails

Create pens on the tilled soil, by using actual barriers like raffia baskets, waterbeds etc. 25 breeders per square metre is the usual size of a snail pen.

Leave for another week, then organize a soil test with a company, consultant or a chemist, confirm the pH leveles of your soil and if possible a heavy metal ion analysis test.

Check for earthworms, bugs, and other form of life and activity. If you are happy with the fertilitynof the soil and your test results

Take down the dates and the results and store away,

Introduce your breeders to their pens.

SECURITY

Building barriers to control the movement of the snails around the premises is not a must. Snails tend to stay around the areas they feed and rest. But the bigger threat are the predators.

Human threat- snail stealing is quite common place so you woukd need a security personel if you are not resident on site.

Rodents, snakes and ants are the biggest threatsyo your snails survival. Particularly the ants.

Clean left over food immediately and set ablaze any ant hills or holes you find. Waste oil from the mechanics also suffice in stopping ant colonies,

Poisoned foods for the rodents at the barriers of the pen

A newer idea, is the use of waterbeds to protect the perimeter of the snail pens.

Do not use insecticides or other organic aerosols near or over the snail hatchery