Ruggar Yamma: The troubles of Sokoto farming community
At Ruggar Yamma, a community in Dange Shuni Local Government Area of Sokoto State, harvest period is usually accompanied with sleepless nights. Because of the bad nature of their road, they find it very difficult to transport their farm produce to various markets. Farmers trek for long hours at night as they labour to take their produce to junctions where commercial vehicles would convey them to the market.
Narrating their ordeal, a resident who simply identified himself as Ali, said, “We have to stay awake at night to get the produce to the major road because if they don’t get to the market early in the morning, we risk losing buyers to other traders. So our harvest period always brings sleepless nights. And the whole village is usually involved in such activities.”
He revealed that for security purposes, they always move in large groups.
The highly agrarian community, which has a population of over 300,000 people, is located 2 kilometers from the Sokoto-Gusau major road and 4 kilometers from Dange, the headquarters of Dange Shuni Local Government Area. They are known for large scale production of tomatoes, onions, rice, pepper and maize. Although they lack other infrastructures, as farmers they are more bothered by the absence of access road.
It was learnt that some members of the community depend on camels and donkeys to transport their farm produce and other goods to the market.
“We always spend our profits on the transportation of our goods from the farms to the major road, and subsequently, to markets. For instance, we pay a camel owner N50 to N70 for a sack of onions, depending on the distance from the farm to the main road. A camel can load about six sacks of onions. And the boys who go on foot with the loads are paid N30 per trip. They start at 2am and continue till daybreak,” Ali further explains.
A 56-year-old farmer, Muhammadu Tudu, also said, “Anytime we harvest our produce, it is quite a struggle to take them to the market.”
He produces about 100 sacks of onions, 70 to 80 baskets of tomatoes, as well as tonnes of rice and maize annually; but he lamented that most of the profits he makes goes to camel owners and people who transport the goods to the major road.
“With a good road, we can just employ the services of commercial vehicle operators who would come directly to our farms, load the goods and take them to market. But as it is, we have to pay extra money to get the goods to the major road for drivers of commercial vehicles to pick them up.
“If we can save the money spent in moving the farm produce to the major road, it would enable us to boost our production; and as such, save a lot.
“At Rugar Yamma, we are into extensive dry and rainy season farming. We are the major food producers in Dange Shuni Local Government, yet no government has bothered to provide good road for us despite several appeals. Government should give us good road. We cannot stop farming because it is our means of livelihood. It is next to cattle rearing. If government can open up our village by providing us with access road, I can assure you that we are going to double our annual production and food prices will come down.”
Another farmer, Liman Umar, 45, also said, “Our soil is rich and we have a favourable climate and vegetation for rearing animals. We also have a Fadama section where we extensively engage in dry season farming. With good road we can go into mechanised farming, which can pave way for agro-allied companies in the area.
“Bad road has remained the pain in our neck. There is nothing we can do about it, as little efforts we make are destroyed by the rains.”
Residents also said it’s always a nightmare anytime it rained as getting to the community from Sokoto, through Gusau, becomes a herculean task.
The village head of Rugar Yamma, Muhammad Dan Ali, 62, expressed concern over the situation and called on the Sokoto State Government and the affected located government to come to their rescue.
“We have a favourable climate for agricultural activities and we engage in cattle rearing, among others things; so we deserve a good road,” the traditional leader said.
Reacting, the Commissioner for Rural Development in Sokoto State, Mani
Maishinku, however, assured of plans to ensure that all communities in the state have access roads to enable farmers transport their produce to various markets.
“Due to the interest Governor Aminu Tambuwal has in providing a good road network in the state, he has already signed a memorandum of understanding with the World Bank to construct 500km rural roads across the state.
“The state government has paid its counterpart funding of N100million; we are waiting for the World Bank. Contractors have been identified. Some of the roads are going to be tarred while some will be feeder roads.
“The governor has given approval for the construction of many access roads in the 23 local government areas of Sokoto. We feel it is very necessary. All members of the state House of Assembly have the mandate, and they requested us to provide road networks in their constituencies. The governor has approved 5-kilometre road for every member. We are on the preparatory stage; by next month work will start,” he said.