EYAF Summit: Expert Calls for Innovative Development Approach in Anam

By Olisemeka Obeche

Engr. Dr. Isaac Okafor, a Director and Head of the Manufacturing Services Department (MSD), at the Centre for Adaptation of Technology (CAT), an Awka-based research and development institute with a mandate for electronics and allied fields also known as the Electronics Development Institute (ELDI), has advocated for innovative grassroots development approach.

Engr. Okafor made the call while delivering a lecture on the theme: “Anam Transformation: From Mindset to Landscape” during the 2023 Summit organized by the Elite Youths of Anam Foundation (EYAF) at Umueze Anam, Anambra West Local Government Area of Anambra State.

Okafor disclosed that Anam, a riverine community in the bank of River Niger, Anambra and Ezichi rivers in Anambra West local government had lagged in socio-economic development over the last century due to its lowland topography and seasonal flooding crisis. According to him, while successive governments at the federal, state and local governments have failed to provide much-needed infrastructure to drive development in the area, community self-help had yielded minimal results.

Even as he commended the recent moves by the Anambra state government led by Prof. Chukwuma Soludo and Senator Tony Nwoye, Senator representing Anambra North, to complete some abandoned road projects in Anambra West and increase accessibility, Okafor called on the stakeholders in the area to adopt an innovative approach to its development plan.
According to him, with an innovative mindset, residents of the area can turn what they had for decades considered an obstacle to their development, to a catalyst for their rapid transformation.

Hear him: “Our people are predominantly farmers and fishermen. The flooding, though inconveniencing, is advantageous to the farmers. It covers the land with very rich organic materials that replenish and revitalize the soil for cultivation the next season. Also, the ponds, lakes, and streams are replenished with fish and aquatic vegetation for fish growth. Proceeds from these two occupations are supposed to be very handsome but they are not.

“The flood has the disadvantage of compelling farmers to harvest all their produce at once, sometimes prematurely. After harvesting, the produce is taken to various markets, mainly by canoe as there are inadequate roads to farms for the evacuation. Due to the flooding problems, our people lack storage spaces/facilities, hence they glut nearby markets with these products at very cheap prices.

The earnings for their whole year’s labour amount to very little if divided by the number of months in a year. The farmers sale almost everything and left only a few quantities that would be used to checkmate the coming famine period.

He stressed that with an innovative mindset towards harnessing the huge human and natural resource potentials in the area; Anam people can take full economic advantage of their ecosystem in terms of farming and fish farming.

“We have natural ponds that our people can easily harness unlike people in the upland areas who need to pump water into artificial ponds in other to grow fish. All we have to do is to develop the existing natural ponds and begin to produce fish in abundance.

“The same thing applies to farming. Our people don’t depend on fertilizers to grow their food because of the richness of our soil with organic materials deposited during the seasonal flooding. It’s now up to us to find smart ways of preserving and processing foods produced in the area for value addition and improved income and standard of living for our people”, he adds.

He, however, identified poor infrastructure, lack of qualified teachers, lack of incentives to teachers, disruption of academic activities by seasonal flooding, early marriage, and increasing rate of school drop-out, as major obstacles to human capital and physical development in the area, and calling on community, political leaders and government to take proactive measures to address them in other to build human capital for development of the area.

Okafor, among others, recommended the award of scholarships to indigenes to study science education courses while bonding them to teach in Anam schools for a specific number of years upon graduation, strict discouragement of early marriage and dropping out of schools, provision of suitable staff quarters, offices and classrooms as well as building and equipment of science laboratories, libraries among others as a panacea to human capital development in Anam.

“For transformations in agriculture and natural resources, he identified key solutions: “There is need for investment in training and capacity building in modern farming methods. We need to take advantage of nearby bodies of water to practice extensive dry season crop and earthen pond fish farming, using water pumping machines. There is also need for the provision of short and long-term loans for farming activities in Anam communities as well as the provision of elevated silos and other storage facilities to assist in controlled sales of produce and prevent market glut.

The expert also called for the establishment of processing plants for Value Chain addition, as well as the planting of improved and fast-maturing seed crops that can mature fully before flooding.