The National Association of Farm Broadcasters got the chance to visit with a panel of international farmers to talk about their experiences, challenges, and daily lives farming internationally. The panel was moderated by NAFB West Region Vice President, Delaney Howell, who is traveling with the group. One of the farmers featured was Patience Koku of Nigeria.
Patience’s farm is located on the Jere Azara irrigation scheme, Kagarko Local government, in Kaduna State Nigeria. The farm is 500 hectares of leased land and produces two crops annually under center pivot irrigation. They grow mostly seed corn for Monsanto and corn grain for major food processing companies in Nigeria, like Flour Mills of Nigeria. She is the recipient of the 2019 Kleckner Award from the Global Farmer Network and 2018 Cornell Alliance For Science Farmer of the year. She also serves on the Cornell Alliance for Science advisory board. In her short time as a member of the GFN, she has already advocated on major stages, including at the 2019 GES summit, a side event of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations Committee of World Food Security in Rome, Italy, and at the Future of Farming Dialogue in Monheim, Germany.
During the visit, Patience had the chance to talk about what she has learned about no-till farming practices in her recent travels with the Global Farmer Network and how no-till is an asset at her own farm.
“Argentina is a county that has done no-till for forty years and in the middle of a drought,” Patience said. “We can see that the crop is still resilient, and they will still have a harvest in spite of the climatic conditions.”
Using no-till is a valuable practice in Africa, Patience said, because it is difficult to purchase equipment.
“On my farm, last year, we were practically caught off guard by when the rains came and when the rains go,” Patience said.
Patience said it is important to utilize any practice that can improve our soil health in a way that helps to retain more water to be more efficient, while also helping the environment.
