Banbara nut (Kwaruru) farming is in recent time popular among women in Garing Bui, Gumunde and Falde communities in Arewa local government area of Kebbi State. Because of its profitability and market the three communities with over 34 villages is fast becoming the hub for banbara nut production in Kebbi State.
Traders from the East and other parts of the country often converge in sokoto to buy banbara nut. Because of the boom in its trade traders from Sokoto,Argungu,Yeldu, Kangiwa often patronize banbara nut farmers in Garin Bui, Falde and Gumunde.
During the IFAD-CASP/FGN third supervision mission to Kebbi State one of the banbara nut farmers, Hajiya Fati Ansar who took our correspondent to her farm at Garin Bui in Arewa local government area of the state said she started farming the nut 45 years ago and it remains her major crop because it is profitable. “I started growing Banbara nut (Kwaruru) since I was small. About 45 years ago I used to follow my mother to farm it. It was my mother’s main crop so I grew up farming it and I am still in it till today because it is a profitable crop. Whenever I harvest it I keep some for my family and the remaining for sale. I use part of the proceeds to buy cattle and other things that my family needs. Sometimes whenever my daughters’ wants to marry I sell some bags to raise money to buy their clothes, cooler, beddings, cooking pots, plates and other things they need for their marriage (Kayan Aure)”.
She said because of the demand for it a bag of Banbara nut sells between N22,000 to N25,000 and a plate of it (Mudu) is N450. She said “It is in high demand particularly during another farming season. People come all the way from Sokoto, Niger and other states to buy from us in Bui village. I farm Banbara nut (Kwaruru) once a year. This year I cultivated five hectares of land to plant it. When I plant it, it will only take five days for it to germinate. At any farming season I use bull to plough the farm and I pay some number of people to help me in the planting and harvesting. It is not what I can do alone sometimes we spend up to five or seven hours in the farm. I need other people to help me and it has been very rewarding during each harvesting year. During harvesting I get up to 50 bags and sometimes over 40 bags it depends because everything comes from God. It takes only three month for it to be ready for harvesting. We take it to Sokoto, Argungu, Kangiwa and Yeldu to sell”.
Hajiya Fati stated that the crop was popular among the women in the area. “What we heard is that apart from eating banbara nut is being used to produce biscuit and soap. The market is always there for it. You can see that it is very popular with women in this area. It is a crop we prefer farming every year because it is profitable. However, we farm it only during the raining season. We have to wait every year for the rain to fall before we can plant it. I have no regret farming it because through the year I don’t lack I have bags of banbara nut stock at home. Anytime I need money I always go there to take about two or three bags to the market. I have built a house, I sponsored my daughters marriage and I am leaving comfortably well from the proceeds I am making from farming banbara nut.
Like I told you the nut is in high demand here. Many of us farming it are women. I am the secretary of one of the associations that form our community development association (CDA) in Bui. We are getting support from the IFAD-CASP/FGN. The training we are getting on good farm practice, improved seeds and awareness on when to start our farming activities during the raining season has help us a lot. We still need more support to expand and boost banbara nut production because it is a profitable venture.”
https://www.dailytrust.com.ng/how-kebbi-women-make-fortune-farming-banbara-nut-262085.html
naijacutee FOD dominique puskin FarmTech Pavore9

Interesting..

God bless the hardworking women of our land.

Nice one.. God bless the hardworking lady...in Nigeria..