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Environmental Degradation: HOMEF Trains Farmers in Akwa Ibom Oil Community on Organic Farming

Environmental Degradation: HOMEF Trains Farmers in Akwa Ibom Oil Community on Organic Farming

Participants paying rapt attention during the training.

By Ekemini Simon

In a bid to contribute towards improving livelihoods regardless of the impact of the ecologically degraded farmlands in oil-rich Ibeno local government area of Akwa Ibom State, Health of Mother Earth Foundation (HOMEF) has trained farmers on the need to embrace organic farming.

Farmers at Okoroutip community in Ibeno were on Friday trained on agroecology as an offshoot of HOMEF’s intervention on Farmers’ Land Rights and Fighting Land Grabbing.

The training which was facilitated by Iwan-Aondover Barnabas of Be the Help Foundation witnessed farmers trained on the production of organic fertilizer through the use of cow dung, cow urine, cow pea, banana, water and soil. The farmers were further trained on the utilisation of locally available items such as cow urine, garlic, pepper and neem plant in the production of pesticide.

The Project Lead, Stephen Oduware noted that the training is predicated on the fact that the community is highly impacted by activities of oil industries which has made them lose their lands and livelihoods.

Oduware said that by the testimonies of the community members, the community have not had dividends of their land as it has become degraded even as they are losing their mangrove forest ecosystem on account of pollution and felling of mangrove trees by the locals.

He noted that as a means of HOMEF’s intervention, the organisation is using agroecological methods to help the community reclaim their land. He noted that this is done by teaching the community members how to deploy natural inputs to improve the health of the soil for good yield.

The Project Lead said HOMEF is also training the community on mangrove restoration so as to see them begin to restore their mangrove that is already destroyed and disappearing.

He added ” Here, we are having a practical training session on how they can restore  their mangrove using the pods and seeds of these mangroves. However, we have the issue of the invasive species of Nipa palm that is foreign to us.

” Communities should start looking at ways to remove these invasive species that are not native and start replacing it with mangroves which support farming that will also support the community against dangerous storms from the sea and support fisheries as it serves as breeding ground for them.”

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On his part, the facilitator, Iwan-Aondover Barnabas in an interaction after the training said he was delighted over the fact the farmers trained have shown capacity to practice what they have been taught and cascade it to other farmers.

Barnabas noted that the new knowledge will not only save the community from the cost of buying chemical fertilizer which is not environmentally friendly but will add more value to the forest system and rejuvenate the lands that are no longer productive.

In reaction, a community member, Pastor Abasiubong John offered insight into the fact that the community mangrove has been destroyed due to fossil fuel pollution and erosion.

He thanked HOMEF for the training noting that the insight they have gotten will help them reclaim their lands.

Chief Philip Atanwa, Chairman of Okoroutip Village Council while also thanking HOMEF assured that the experience gained will be cascaded across the community.

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