Why pineapple production in Edo may drop

Two weeks ago, more than 400 pineapple growers in the Aduhanhan community of Uhunmwonde Local Government Area protested against Edo State’s purported intention to take over their farms in order to make way for an investment in palm oil.

Weekend Trust reported that the chairman of the All Farmers Association of Nigeria (AFAN) in Edo State, Alhaji Bako Dogwo, alongside leaders of other organisations, spearheaded the farmers’ protest on behalf of the Aduhanhan Taungya Farmers Association.

Speaking to reporters, Alhaji Dogwo said the farmers had been cultivating the land for over 60 years, and that the proposed eviction went against all levels of government’s efforts to combat food insecurity.

He said that when the government gave the community the forest reserves, they were required to grow only food crops – cassava, yams, maize, pineapple, etc – rather than cash crops.

Noting that Nigeria is the continent’s top producer of pineapple and the seventh in the world, Dogwo clarified that the ranking was attained because Edo State is the country’s top producer.

“If the plan to illegally evict the over 400 farmers from over 10 communities from the land is possible, it would amount to land grabbing, injustice, oppression of farmers and governments’ lip service to agriculture.

“We are aware that Senator Monday Okpebholo, a listening governor, is not interested in taking land from the entire community. That is why we are appealing to him to intervene.

“We have over 1,000 hectares of pineapple, cassava, yams, maize and other farms in this forest reserve that we are using to take care of the nation.

“The governor, who has always had an interest in farmers, last year voted over N70 billion for agriculture; and this is the highest allocation to agriculture since the   state’s creation.

“We say no to oppression.  We say no to land grabbers. Nobody can come here and take our land because if this land is taken from us, we will have nowhere to get our daily bread,” he said.

He said that apart from Ekpoma in Esan West Local Government Area, the Aduhanhan community in Uhunmwonde Local Government Area is the second highest producer of pineapple in the state.

The Odiowere of the community, Pa Iro Omorodion, also called on Governor Okpebholo to intervene in the matter and restore the land to them.

He said, “The government gave us seedlings for the planting of forest trees, alongside food crops to ensure that we adhered to the directives of only planting food crops and not cash crops. And farmers have strictly abided by the directives.”

Also, Monday Richardson Amakon, the chairman, Aduhanhan Taungya Farmers Association; Monday Owen Egbon, and secretary, Uyi Asemota, respectively, appealed to Governor Okpebholo to come to their aid.

They alleged that a plan had been concluded to forcefully evict the farmers for an investor to plant palm oil, an allegation they described as a negation of the directives of the government that gave the land to their fathers and forefathers.

“We are here protesting because we heard that the Edo State Government wants to drive us from our farmland and give it to another person to cultivate palm oil.

“We are appealing to the government to leave this land for us. The land we now hear that they are allocating to us is not up to 15 acres. Are 15 acres enough for 400 persons to farm? The answer is a capital no,” they said.

Meanwhile, the director, Agric Services/Extension, Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security, Mr David Oginbor, said the government would not just kick out farmers from their land without engaging them,

He said the Taungya farmers farming within the forest reserve may be protesting that they don’t want the engagement.

He explained, “The forest is supposed to protect animals and plants, but it has been degraded. The government wants to reclaim it. Oil palm is chosen as a forest crop because it has a way of replenishing the degraded environment. That is why the state keyed into the oil palm project after doing a land audit.

“When we are asking some set of farmers to leave, we understand that there would be a problem, but again, there is something called buffer that would be set for them. And adequate compensation would be made.

“They will be profiled, their crops valued; and they would be adequately compensated.”

He said that no one was driving them off their land because there was an engagement in which some parcels of land were given to investors.

According to him, the government is not saying they must go today because the ministry will do the enumeration based on the number of farmers, cost implication of the crops; and compensation would be paid.

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