Journalist makes high yield from farming amid Covid-19 pandemic

The crises brought about by the outbreak of the new coronavirus might have adversely affected many professionals, a lot of who lost jobs, family members and dear friends.

But some professionals did not just sit back to lament their woes. They took up their tools in low risk areas and went to work and a few months after the initial lockdowns, are reaping the reward of their initiatives.

One of such professionals is Tony Okafor, the Anambra State Correspondent of the Lagos-based Punch newspapers. Though he did not lose his job, Okafor, who lives in Awka, the Anambra State capital took up his hoe and cutlass and with the assistance of some family members retreated to his hometown, Agulu a few kilometres from Awka to till the land.

A trained teacher, who joined journalism after becoming a village headmaster many years ago, Okafor remembered his days as a teacher when they had farms at the back of their quarters and quickly went to work.

In his part of Nigeria, such farms are called Ugbo n’azu uno (farm at the back of the house).

Using the intercropping method, Okafor planted maize, cucumber, vegetables, pawpaw, watermelon, groundnuts and waterleaf among others.

Just this week he began harvesting from the farm and with a lot of joy he showed his initial harvest to his colleagues on their whatsapp platform.

Streetjournalist interviewed him about his pastime and he said he derived a lot of satisfaction from it.

He said though he initially started the farm on a subsistence note, the harvests he has made so far were too much for his family to consume. So he has been selling some of the produce in the open market.

He said, “I sold N3,000 cucumber yesterday and N1,000 waterleaf because they were excess for the family to consume at a time. No storage option. But generally, it is meant for family use.”

What satisfaction has he derived from this venture? The journalist, who is also a lawyer, asked that we wait till when the main harvest starts. But for now, “The joy is the main thing. Before yesterday, I didn’t know I could produce cucumber in my village. I had thought it was a northern Nigeria exclusive.

“My watermelon is sprouting; groundnuts too. So, all these can give psychological satisfaction. It’s like making a scientific breakthrough in a laboratory. But in all, it will be more beneficial if one resides around the farm, maybe in one’s own village.”

He said it took 45 days for cucumber to mature for harvesting while pawpaw took five months. Though he said he had not approached government or any financial institution for loan to support his new pastime, it could still be on the cards.

Streetjournalist says more power to Okafor’s elbow.

By Obe Eleme