Odita Sunday 
GROW WHAT YOU EAT: A NATIONAL CALL TO PARENTS, PROFESSIONALS, AND POLICY MAKERS
(Sunday Sermon)
By Ewere Okonta, PhD
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eobnewsmedia@gmail.com
eob.org.ng
There comes a time in a nation’s life when survival demands a return to the basics – and that time is now. This is not a drill. This is not political talk. This is a sermon from one parent to another, a wake-up call from one citizen to fellow citizens, an urgent appeal to every businessman, civil servant, politician, medical doctor, engineer, clergyman, lawyer, and academic – to roll up our sleeves and grow what we eat.
Yes, you read that right. Farming – even at the smallest scale – is no longer a rural occupation for the poor and unemployed. It is a strategic act of patriotism, self-reliance, and economic intelligence. It is a response to rising food prices, increasing insecurity, worsening unemployment, and the threat of a national food crisis.
And before you dismiss this sermon as idealistic, know this: I practice what I preach. Despite my packed schedule and professional obligations, I have embraced farming as a lifestyle and as a legacy. From yams to corn, from cassava to vegetables, from sugarcane to plantains, and yes, even protein from livestock – my household produces a majority of what we eat. The pride, the savings, the health benefits, the independence – you can’t beat it.
Farming Is Not Beneath You – It’s Beneath Your Nose:
Let’s challenge the elitist mindset that sees farming as a job for the “illiterates.” That’s the first foolish mistake we’ve made. The businessman with 10 properties and the civil servant with a six-figure salary must learn to plant okro in their compound, raise chickens behind their office, or cultivate tomatoes on their balcony. Farming isn’t an insult to your status – it is insurance for your survival.
The current inflationary pressures, coupled with insecurity on highways and farms, are silently preparing a catastrophic food shortage. We must act now, and act together. Producing at least 50% of what we eat should become a household policy for every Nigerian family.
Children Should Know Where Food Comes From:
It is time to take our children along with us to the farms – be it a vegetable garden, poultry pen, or cassava plot. Children raised on the values of hard work, patience, and productivity are less likely to be lured by internet fraud, addiction, or laziness. Let them get their hands dirty – in the mud of dignity, not the mess of crime.
Farming Must Be Made Fashionable – and Compulsory:
I strongly propose that Agricultural Science be made a compulsory subject from primary through secondary school. It should no longer be an optional ‘add-on’ for the few who couldn’t get into Medicine or Engineering. In fact, those who choose to pursue Agriculture at the tertiary level should be incentivized with free tuition, assured employment, or start-up capital for modern farming.
We’re not just talking about hoes and cutlasses anymore. Technology has transformed agriculture. With modern techniques like sack farming, hydroponics, greenhouse tech, and irrigation innovations, you don’t need hectares of land to feed a family of five. The era of “no space, no farming” is over. You can farm on your balcony, in bags, in buckets — if there is the will, technology will find the way.
Government Must Remove the Thorns:
The elephant in the room, however, remains insecurity. What’s the use of allocating land when criminal herders chase people away with guns? Many rural farmers have abandoned their farms for fear of death, and their crops are rotting unattended. The government must, as a matter of national emergency, protect our farms, our food, and our farmers. If we do not secure the soil, we will hunger in the city.
Land acquisition for genuine agricultural investors should be seamless. Bureaucracy should give way to urgency. Tax waivers, access to loans, and rural road construction should top the government’s priority list. Incentives – not obstacles – should greet every Nigerian who wants to farm.
The Benefits Are Irrefutable:
Food Security: You’ll sleep better knowing your next meal didn’t come from a fragile supply chain.
Savings: You save massively on food bills when you grow your own.
Health: Fresh food means fewer preservatives and better nutrition.
Employment: Farming can engage jobless youths and reduce rural-urban migration.
Pride: There’s something noble about feeding yourself and others.
Let’s Start a Movement:
Let this not end as a sermon. Let it start as a movement. A movement of professionals who farm, parents who plant, teachers who till, students who sow, and children who water. We need an “Operation Grow What You Eat” campaign in every state, LGA, school, and church.
You don’t need 10 acres. Start with 10 tubers. Don’t wait to own a tractor – own a watering can. Let’s grow our way out of hunger, out of shame, and into a future where Nigeria can feed itself.
If I can do it, with all the demands on my time and energy – so can you.
Think small. Start small. But farm anyway.
Let this sermon be your seed. Now go, and sow.
This is the Sunday sermon from my holy pulpit!
Dr Ewere Okonta is the CEO of EOB Media. He is a family values advocate, he writes from the Department of Business Administration, University of Delta, Agbor.
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