“What a man can do, a woman can do better,” a popular saying goes. But this saying is not often realistic in the lives of women and in all their endeavours and indulgences as the men are still dominating their engagements. However, in Plateau State, women appear to have dominated farming, particularly, crop farming.
A cursory look around shows more women working on the farm, whether it is during land clearing/tilling, planting, weeding or harvesting. The crops cultivated included maize, rice, Irish potato, and groundnut, among others.
Some of the women who spoke to Daily Trust on Sunday said the men are stronger than them but they have more endurance and doggedness than the male folk when it comes to farm work. Besides, they said they engage in farming in order to cater for the family and be less dependent on their husbands.
Some men are also not involved in farming because they often preoccupy themselves in social/anti-social vices.
A 54-year-old woman, Lydia Dennis, said the boys and men alike don’t like farm work because they see it as stressful, but that the women don’t see it that way.
“Why women farm more in Plateau is because we don’t have any other work to do. Some of the men don’t like to suffer at all. They see farm work as stressful, but the women don’t see farm work as such. We farm in order to help ourselves, our children and the family in general. Through farming, the women support the efforts of the men in solving the family needs.
“There are other men who are not very responsible to the family’s needs, yet the women through farming rise to the occasion to meet the family needs by themselves. Also, some of the men are just lazy and don’t want to farm. They may be stronger than us, but when it comes to farm work, we have more endurance and perseverance than them,” she said.
She advised the men to take farming seriously and complement the efforts of their wives in order to meet the family needs, especially when there is no other work to do.
Another female farmer, Akila Adamu, 43, said some men will initially involve themselves in farm work, but hardly complete the farming process (from land clearing to harvesting).
She said farming has kept young girls away from unhealthy and rough lifestyles, while most men who didn’t farm were mostly seen in drinking joints and other such places.
“If the women and girls don’t farm who will take care of them (the men). Many young girls today are into farming because they have seen that it is more profitable than running after men. And on the other hand, young boys and men today have engaged themselves in drinking alcohol rather than in farming. That is really worrisome. The lack of work has further contributed to the widespread alcohol consumption in the state.
“Sometimes, the boys would even be coming to the farm to steal maize and eat whenever they are drunk and don’t have anything to eat. If the government can assist those boys with any kind of work, or if there is a company that can employ them and be paying them N5,000 monthly it would be better.
“The situation is truly worrisome. The boys don’t have work to do, and yet they don’t want to farm. That actually breeds stealing,” she said.
Akila added that the women support each other on the farm by coming together to work on the farm when the work is much for one of them.
In her own account, Chalya Audu, 25, said she is farming to assist her mother and also to gather money to further her studies. She said she has a Diploma in Catering and Hotel Management from the University of Jos.
She said farming has helped her in several ways, from being preoccupied to staying away from unhelpful social contacts.
According to her, the women tend to be generally stronger than the men because after the hectic farm work, they still go home to do other domestic work and to also cook for the family.
She said even some of the men who engage in farm work select the crop they want, explaining that most men don’t like to work on rice plantation because of its tedious nature but rather prefer Irish potatoes, soya beans and others.
Meanwhile, a farmer who is said to be the eldest farmer in Bassa Local Government Area, Haruna Mantir, 77, in his reaction said more women are into farming because most men are working in other sectors in order to earn salaries.
He noted, however, that some men were lazy and didn’t like farm work, adding that he has two wives who do farm work more than himself or many other men.
Mantir said in big towns like Jos, the state capital, women farm more because many men are engaged in other functions with other organisations/sectors, while in the villages where there are no many salary-earning jobs and other activities that will engage their interest, the men do farm work as much as the women.
He said another reason why women are mostly found on the farms than men is because they have that unique ability in improvising on farm implements, including speedy access to procuring fertilizer.
“In the towns, women farm more, but in villages the men and the women are either at par or the men are more. Nonetheless, in Plateau State women are deeply involved in farming in order to support their husbands and their family. But again, some men are just lazy to farm, but when it comes to drinking and related stuffs, they are very active.
“As I speak, if you go to many farms you will find the women there, while their male children and husbands are either in drinking joints or other places. Many others, however, do legitimate work and businesses to help their family, including their wives who are daily on the farm”, he added.
Nevertheless, he stressed, a husband and father should endeavour to cater for his wife and children whether he farms or not because he is the head of the family.
Reacting, the Senior Special Assistant to Governor Simon Lalong on Media and Publicity, Mark Longyen, confirmed the development, saying the situation is so because women are said to be more than men, and that men are into other ventures.
He said farming is one of the easiest things that a woman can do to support the family and all that is required is just a piece of land and farm implement.
Longyen further explained that most farmers, especially in the villages, marry many wives who support them on the farm, and so when one sees people on the farm, one man would be seen among many women.
According to him, his own father got married to 21 wives who all supported him on the farm, and that statistically therefore, in his family more women are into farming than the men.
