Farmers in Ijah, a rural community in the Kwali Area Council of the Federal Capital Territory, have expressed concern over the poor condition of the road linking them to markets, which they say is causing heavy losses of harvested crops.
Several farmers said that tomatoes, peppers and okra harvested from their farms are now getting bad because vehicles cannot access the community due to the collapsed culvert and deteriorated roads.
One of the affected farmers, Barnabas Ishaya, said he recently harvested 12 baskets of okra but could not get them to the market in Kwali.
“Last week, I had to pay some women to help carry the produce on their heads across the broken culvert before it could be loaded into a pickup vehicle,” he explained while assisting others in fixing a section of the road.
The only road linking Ijah I and Ijah II communities has become worse following a heavy downpour on Friday, which caused a large double-cell culvert to collapse completely. Since then, residents say they have been cut off from nearby areas.
Enoch Bala, another farmer, said that since the collapse, both communities have been stranded. “There is no alternative route. I had some baskets of tomatoes ready for the market, but I could not move them,” he said.
Yakubu Garba, who has lived in the area for over 11 years, described the impact as frustrating. “You can see the tomatoes under that tree. They were meant for the market, but no vehicle can enter since the culvert collapsed. I have 13 baskets just sitting there,” he said.
Community members have now started working together to carry out temporary repairs on the worst parts of the road.
The Chief of Farmers in Ijah, Mr. Dauda Bwambwa Moses, said the road has been a long-standing concern. He noted that the situation became more difficult after Friday’s rainfall, which rendered the road unusable.
“The village head called a meeting, and we agreed to mobilize the youths to begin repair work where we can. But there is a limit to what we can do,” he said.
He called on the Kwali Area Council, under Chairman Danladi Chiya, to assist the community by requesting the FCT administration to intervene.
“We have seen the rehabilitation work done by the FCT Minister in parts of Kwali. We are asking the same attention be given to this road, so farmers and residents can move freely,” he added.
According to Mr. Moses, over 95 percent of the community’s residents are farmers, and many of them rely on timely market access, especially during the rainy season.
Responding to the situation, Solomon Yahaya from the works department in Kwali confirmed that the council had included the Ijah road in its recent submission to the FCT Minister for intervention. He added that the request also included the Awawa-Yewuti road.
“The council has already forwarded both requests, and we are hopeful the projects will be considered in the next cycle,” he said.
