For centuries farming has been one of the oldest professions in the world. In northeast Nigeria, where most communities depend on farming, it is regarded predominantly as a men’s work. But Falmata Mustapha has bucked that trend.

She has been farming in the Jere Local Government Area for seven years and it is her only source of income.

Mustapha told RNI reporter Nana Hadiza Mustapha she does not only cater for herself and her family but also for many in the community.

“I live in Gongolon on the outskirts of Maiduguri. I have been farming for more than seven years now. I farm grain, groundnuts, beans and rice and during the rainy season I farm peppers, vegetables and other fresh foods.

“I cater for myself, my family, my people and many others through farming. Sometimes I farm and sometimes I employ people, especially women who do not have a job, to farm for me and pay them. It’s my way of helping them to become self-reliant by learning how to farm so that they can feed their families and bring in money to help provide the basic necessities.”

She said she enroled her children into school using the profits she got from farming. “I have children in the junior and senior grades. Their father is disabled so he cannot cater for us. I pay for our childrens’ schooling. We get plenty to eat and I can cater for all our basic needs through farming.

“I farm on the outskirts of Maiduguri but not too far away. There are vast lands further out of the city, which would be the ideal place to farm and would produce bumper harvests and be more profitable but because of the insecurity and the presence of insurgents, I don’t go that far.

“As an entrepreneur, I encourage more people – especially women – to embrace farming. I sometimes hold gatherings for women and I advise them not to stay at home all day with nothing to do or to sit back with their hands folded in their laps expecting their husbands to provide everything. I tell them that is not wise. If a woman has a job she can at least become independent and can also support her husband in providing whatever is needed in the home.”

Mustapha said she had shown quite a number of women how to farm and they had taken her advice and were now farming their own lands. They were no longer totally dependent on their husbands and took care of providing food and other essentials for their families.

“It’s high time more women started farming. By doing so, they would be able to pay all their children’s schooling needs instead of having to beg on the streets or do unacceptable acts to survive.”

She said too many women sat around idle. “I’m calling on these women to please embrace a job too and reduce having to depend on other people to do things for them. I get a lot of money through farming. I don’t buy food because we produce an abundance of it from farming. I thank God I can afford all my children’s needs. I don’t have to beg and I am even able to help my people too.

“I survive on farming and I’m proud of that because it empowers me and makes me independent.”

AISHA SD JAMAL