'Millenium village' revolutionizes life in rural Nigerian community

by Reuben Buhari

In Pampaida, a remote village in Kaduna State, Nigeria, the UNDP and other foreign partners have proved that the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) are attainable if there is the political will and commitment. The belief that rural dwellers could lead better lives and break the chains of poverty with low-cost and well-targeted investments is gradually turning to reality in an obscure and hitherto inaccessible village.

Pampaida Millennium Village comprises 28 settlements with 5,285 inhabitants. The settlements are predominantly made up of Hausa and Fulani people, who are mostly farmers and herdsmen. The village is the poorest and remotest in Kaduna.

Before the intervention of the UNDP and the Kaduna State Government, Pampaida lacked basic infrastructure that is critical to development. The nearest clinic is about 10 km away, accessed only through a very bad road, the nearest tarred road being 12 km away. No source of electricity exists in Pampaida, except for a few private generators. The clinic serves more than 5,000 people, has one nurse and three attendants and is rarely visited by the inhabitants of the village due to the poor quality of the service. No doctor has visited in the last five years.

There is an acute shortage of water in Pampaida. Outside of the rain season, children and women travel a distance of one kilometre in search of it. There are four teaching staff at the single primary school, established thirty years ago. Girl-child education is not encouraged. Although 122 girls are registered in the school, less than 65 attend regularly.

On setting out on the three-hour journey to Pampaida, the expectation was that it was another white elephant project, high on hype but low on substance. The occasion was the distribution of repellent-treated mosquito nets by the UNDP. But the sight of the village completely changed the expectation that poverty and under-development will continue to be a permanent feature for rural dwellers.

According to Turhan Saleh, the UNDP country director, "the treated bed-nets may look simple, but they enhance your capacity to be more productive, to earn more money, and be healthier. They also save lives. These nets are important for the achievement of more than just one of the millennium development goals." He continued, "The people of Pampaida have enormous potential and resources to escape the trap of poverty, notably through agriculture. The villages contribute very significantly to the total output of numerous cash crops grown in Ikara and environs. The harvest of these crops, which include tomatoes, onions, maize, sorghum and rice, have not translated into an improved livelihood for the community because of the middlemen who come from afar during the harvest period to take advantage of the 'surplus' created by the system of simultaneous harvesting done within the community."

Saleh said, "The farmers, being subsistence, lack storage facilities and thus dispose of their produce almost immediately, to the advantage of the middlemen who cart away the produce at give-away prices. The result is that within four to six weeks of harvest and sales of their agricultural produce, the villagers become completely penniless."

The situation has now completely changed. Presently, N15 million worth of agricultural inputs, including 275 tonnes of fertilizer and 11 tonnes of seed where distributed to 447 households growing one hectare of maize each. At the end of the main 2006 farming season, a bumper average harvest of 3.49 tonnes per hectare of maize was recorded, compared to the baseline average of 1.10 tonnes per hectare, a more than 300 percent yield increase. To ensure the project's continuity, all those provided with seed and fertilizer are expected to contribute 10 per cent of their total harvest to be stored as seed for planting in the following rain season.

Meanwhile, farmers have been organised into cooperative groups and efforts are being made by the UNDP to ensure that they have access to credits and funds. It is believed that this will reduce the urge to dispose of their produce immediately after harvest. A grain store is also under construction for the 10 per cent contribution of farmers. Their produce will be sold when market prices are best. An order has also been placed for a truck to facilitate the transportation of goods to market.

The UNDP and other foreign partners have acted as a catalyst that has prompted the government of Kaduna State to come in and improve the quality of life to the people of Pampaida. But the question that should engage the mind of every policy formulator and decision maker in the corridors of power is : for how long will we allow foreigners to stimulate us before we take care of our own people?

This Day

*This is a condensed form of the much longer original article, abridged to focus here on just the agricultural aspects of Pampaida Millennium Village. Editor.