Agriculture is the way out !!

Hello friends

Are you happy with the high cost of food items in your locality? I am definitely not happy with it and am sure you are not happy too

Agriculture is the way out from the high cost of food items

What is Agriculture?

Growing up in school I was taught by my teachers that agriculture is the cultivation of crops , rearing of animals for production of meat and for its sale.

Today I would like to add that agriculture is simply farming. It is everything we do to produce our own food. You can decide to own a small garden where you plant fresh pepper and tomatoes or scent leaf and okro. What you have just done is farming which is agriculture because you have just produced your own fresh pepper.

You can also decide to have a a cage in your compound where you keep chicken either for their meats or eggs. Oh yes it is farming!

Growing up as a kid I saw my mum tend to her small garden. She owned a garden where she cultivated some crops like corn, cassava, plantain, pepper, tomatoes and okro. This actually helped us a lot. When we harvest the corn, we processed it into different things as food like pap, corn flour and ate the corn too.

We didn't need to depend so much on buying things in the market. Money wasn't even an issue because some of these crops were sold in exchange for money. Mum also reared chicken and goat for their meat and for sale. This helped us a great deal.

But today you hardly find such arrangements, everybody wants a white collar job that provides them with money forgetting that agriculture is a job too.

Importance of agriculture to us today

Food Supply

Agriculture ensures adequate food supply to us today. I don't know how else we would get food if not through agriculture. Majority of the food we eat were gotten through agriculture.

Production of raw materials

Several raw materials needed to make certain items are provided by agriculture. Examples of some raw materials are Coco for production of beverages, timber for furniture and roofing , cotton for clothes making, rubber for making of tyres, shoes and toys.

Employment

Through agriculture there are people that now have a job, this means agriculture is a means of employment. Many have been employed in farms and ranch to take care of it.

Increased National income

Agriculture has contributed to increase in economy's income . Because some of the products produced through agriculture are exported to other countries for money.

The High Cost of Food items

Recently, I have noticed that the prices of almost everything has doubled or tripped. I hear of complains on the street and in buses how the economy has finally scrubbed.

It is no longer news that whenever it is approaching the end of the year let's say from October the prices of everything goes up. But this year seems different because from January the prices of everything was already high. Could you believe that fuel price in my country has been increased more than 4 times this year?

Should we talk about food items? Do you know that beans is now more expensive than Rice? Who would have believed. Back then beans was not regarded as Rice was, but I can not fathom how the price rose.

Each time I go to the market, I am always amazed at the current price of things. There are some items that has now become gold. So expensive and guess what? The price will not come down. Let's have a look at some items that has increased in price recently:

Food items	Old price	new price
1 paint of Rice	2000 naira/ 10 steem	7500 naira/37.5 steem
1 paint of beans	800 naira/4 steem	11000/55 steem
1 paint of Garri	500 naira/ 2.5 steem	3200 naira/17.5 steem
One big tuber of yam	1500/7.5 steem	6000 naira/20 steem
1 litre of vegetable oil	1500 naira/3500 naira/7.5 steem	17.5 steem
1 litre of Palm oil	1200 naira/ 6 steem	3000 naira / 15 steem

The way out is Agriculture

Imagine if everyone has a farm around them where they plant their major food eaten like rice, yam, cassava, potatoes, tomatoes, onions and many others ? Or if at least you have a fish farm or a poultry farm?

I am so sure that agriculture is one of the major ways out of the present hardship. At least you can plant your crops not just for food but you can decide to exchange it for money by selling it.

Many years back, young people in my community thought that farming is only made for old men and women. They felt the occupation for them was other things but not farming and that was the reason why agriculture was neglected. And now this is the outcome.

I definitely plan to go into agriculture some day through poultry farming. And I encourage and call on young people like me to go into agriculture. Stop waiting for the government to do everything for you.

Agriculture is the way out! Instead of complaining, join the campaign of agriculture, become a farmer and get freedom from the hardship.

Mummies and Daddies, young and old , the time has come to take up agriculture as your job because as it stands the economy can not get better. Things will keep going high and may never go down.

I would stop here for today and give you more update about the current economy. Thank you.