The Vision and Provision

Akwamfon Sustainable Community Association (ASCA) has a vision which is, Agriculture to alleviate poverty and Education to enhance development for the rural community of Ikpe Udok in Essien Udim Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom State of Nigeria that has been neglected by all tiers of government and dumped in abject poverty amidst plenty. Having observed the disadvantaged economic and educational states of the people, something needed to be done to control the situation. Against the philosophical background that they that make things happen can control events in their environments, the Akwamfon Sustainable Agriculture and Community Education Initiative (ASACEI) was initiated.
Teach A Man To Fish (TAMTF) with its “Schools for Rural Entrepreneurs” grant came to us as a provision to our vision in order to actualise the vision. The project mission statement is “Promoting sustainable agricultural practices as a means of providing entrepreneurial education to our people.” Of course, vision actualised is mission accomplished. In this opening Diary, this prelude is necessary to give you a fair knowledge of who we are, where we were and where this project is expected to take us to. The TAMTF award funds are to help us progress toward commercial production cum education of students in vegetables, Pineapple, Maize, Cassava and Snail production plus compost making. Hitherto the production of that agric products/produce has been at subsistent level. Even in Schools, students have not been educated to take Agriculture as a business. If anything, they see it as a subject students have to learn, take examination in, get certificate and forget about it, and so continue to remain at the consuming end of Agric products, while abandoning the production to the ignorant/old parents. Thus ASACEI seeks to move the youths from this irresponsible mind set and train these future leaders to apply the knowledge they acquired in School in the practice of Agriculture as a business. In every planting season, as it is now, every man and woman goes to one’s farm to plant crops of one’s choice and they do it in the traditional way. But at the end of the day, the output does not even feed the immediate family, not to talk of making profit. This is so because Agriculture, which in this case involves mainly farming of few crops, is taken as a tradition to follow and not a business to profit from. The general practice of the people is planting and harvesting what they have whether they make profit or not. This traditional impression is what ASACEI is meant to improve upon in order to change the status quo for economic emancipation.
So far 4 pieces of farmland have been acquired and sites for different crops selected. Due to land tenure system, it is not possible for us to have up to 1 Hectare of farmland at a stretch and the farmland are thus at different locations. Therefore, for the purpose of easy identification, all our pieces of farmland are tagged Farmland 1, 2, 3… (FL1, 2, 3…). On FL1, Site selection has been done. This has to do with deciding what type of crops is planted on what piece of land based on the fertility of the soil determined by the type of weeds that grow on the land while in fallow. FL1 was covered with leguminous weeds and so it is fertile enough for Cassava and maize intercrop. Akwamfon members cleared the farmland, while students were involved in packing since we did not burn the farmland as is traditionally done. Those who did the clearing went home happy after the Project Manager explained to them that one of the reasons soils covered with legumes in fallow are always fertile is the action of Nitrifying Bacteria in their root nodules that convert atmospheric Nitrogen to Nitrate and fix in the soil. They saw the root nodules shown them for the first time. They were amazed at the wonders of nature. The legumes trash was left to decompose and add organic matter and nutrients to the soil. Only thorns and other materials that would not easily decompose but pose a threat to tilling and farm sanitation were heaped at one place and burnt. This is the first time the community experienced not burning a bush after clearing before planting.

Three boys were able to finish ridging on the 1821.25 metres Sq. (approx. 0.2 Hectares) of land in three days. We employed 6 but 3 were scared away because to them the wage was too poor, thus holding the remaining 3 to ransom. Of course, being volunteer members of Akwamfon, they rose to the occasion to avoid mock by the other 3, they told me. That marked the end of pre-planting operations on FL1. Next was planting with its attendant operations such as determination of planting distances and seed rates. Students involved in planting of maize and pinning of Cassava cuttings on the ridges while they learn. Actually both young and old are learning the modern and more productive methods of farming from the ASACEI. Students in this context are therefore categorised into adult and young students. One of them, a Junior Secondary School student, confessed, “This is my first time of planting on ridges”. Thus she and others ended up learning how to plant on ridges different from the traditional way of digging flat pits to bury cassava cuttings. We would then move to Plot 5 of FL1 selected for Fluted Pumpkin. By next week work will begin at the site of FL2.

Meanwhile, Maize that was planted on the 12th April on FL1, Plot 3 emerged on Sunday April 15th 2007, 3 days after planting. Heights of the plumules range from 1 to 4 cm. More than 3 germinate per stand depending on the number of seeds planted by individual students though. All of this will be thinned to one maize per stand at planting distance of 30cm along rows and 90cm between rows. Cassava cuttings planted same day have started to sprout too 3 days after.
As it were with the Israelites of old, ASACEI comes to this community as Manna, meaning, ‘what is this’? So far so good, it’s been a better experience and we seek to experience the more. Watch out for more!

Gathering up unwanted materials

Cutting Cassava stems for planting

Teaching students how to plant cassava