Agroecology has been identified as solution to climate change, food crises and other elements threatening farming and its produce in the country.

This was made known in a two-day training organised by Health of Mother Earth Foundation (HOMEF) for over 50 farmers in Edo State with a view to exposing them on how to improve quality of their farm lands and have a healthy farming system.

INFO DAILY reports that the training also addressed the issue of climate change, land
degradation and conservation of our ecological systems.

In the training organised recently in Benin, farmers were informed that ecological farming alternatives were money saving, simple to implement and simple to share generated knowledge.

Speaking at the training, Programmes Manager, HOMEF, Joyce Brown, stated that essence of the training was to highlight the challenges farmers face and to train them on how to produce and use organic farming
inputs.

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According to her, chemical intensive agriculture is not only harmful to the soil, but
contributes to climate change and endangers the health of farmers and the environment.

She noted that, on the quest to increase soil fertility and boost yields with the use of chemicals, farmers unknowingly endanger their economic future and further sign into a lifetime of health problems.

“Frequent exposure to chemical pesticides can cause cancer and other neurological, immunologic, respiratory and reproductive diseases.

“The use of harmful chemicals and Genetic Modified Organism (GMOs) do not solve the problems we have faced with food scarcity, rather it damages the soils and beneficial organisms.’ Natural fertilizers do not pose any harm to the soil, rather they nourish the soil,” she noted.

On his part, Deputy Director of an NGO (Women Environmental Programme), John Baaki, noted, “agriculture production has suffered intensive use of chemicals which is poisoning the environment,
contaminating the air and water bodies as well as the health of
farmers.’’

He continues, ‘’By teaching farmers to go organic, we are addressing the problem of chemical pollution in Nigeria’s agricultural
sector.’’

In her presentation, Mariann Bassey-Orovwuje, Deputy Director, Environmental Rights Action/ Friends of the Earth Nigeria, urged farmers not be excited when they receive unknown seeds or while using certain fertilizers which have proven to be harmful.

“We are encouraging the use of organic methods. Let us begin to ask some questions. Are we sick because of what we consume? Farmers help to protect nature, environment and our health. We need to consciously grow our foods in manners that are healthy and that do not inflict harm on the soils. To our farmers in Nigeria, we plead that we go back to our roots and say no to GMOs,” she stated.

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Some farmers during the training, shared stories of having short-term and chronic sicknesses
arising from the use of chemicals on their farmlands.

Frederick Ekrebe-Thomas, a cocoa farmer shared his experience from both methods, saying, “The cassavas in my farm went bad after spraying with
pesticides and herbicides.

“When I tried it on separate farms, I noticed that the one with chemical all went bad but the one I used natural methods produced greatly. I have seen it from experience that a farm that is cultivated with organic inputs produces more than those using chemicals. We farmers do not always admit that chemicals are harmful to
us.

“I have been trained in the past on the harmful use of chemicals and
I appreciate this training because it has further opened my eyes and
added to my knowledge.”

Angela Victor, a rice farmer who expressed her excitement over the
training said, “I have been into local rice farming. The government once gave us rice which they call “sparrow 44” with fertilizers to make it grow.

“At the end instead of making profit, I lost much. At the next planting
season I decided to go back to my old rice seeds and method of farming before now. I have learned a lot from this training and I will put the knowledge to use.”

Farmers in training session

Also sharing his testimony, James Osarobo-sehende, who claimed to have always been into natural methods of production, stated that he will continue to remain in that method of farming.

“I used chicken dropping when I planted pumpkins. The growth
rate was impressive. I use machine to clear weeds not the chemical to
clear like the others and I have seen the difference in our farm lands.”

The farmers urged government to support farmers by providing indigenous seeds rather than contaminating GMOs and chemicals that would destroy
their soils and harm their economies.

They also asked for improvement of rural infrastructure which will enable their products get to final
consumers and also improve their farm gate prices.

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