Deep within the dense forest of Edor, located in the Ikom Local Government Area of Cross River State, there are four large cocoa and plantai...
Deep within the dense forest of Edor, located in the Ikom Local Government Area of Cross River State, there are four large cocoa and plantain farms. Tourists would require more than a single day to explore all the green areas.
One of the farms features more than 72,000 cocoa trees and over 50,000 plantain clusters, with harvesting occurring nearly every week, according to the farm's records.
The young individual associated with these farms is Mr. Felix PaulMary Ekol, who was motivated by life's challenges to explore the potential of agriculture.
Possessing a master's degree in Accounting, Mr. Ekol established the farms on his own, planting cocoa trees and plantain suckers, and spending nights in the open field day and night at the farm.
Currently, Ekol is referred to as 'Minister of Agriculture, Local' in his community, which includes the areas where his farms are located, as well as Ogoja, where he resides with his family.
"During my high school years, I used to provide food items to students on campus. They noticed this and remarked that even the minister of agriculture hadn't done this, so they suggested I be appointed as Minister of Agriculture. I told them to include 'local' to distinguish between the actual minister of agriculture and the copycat version, which is me," he said.
Being raised in a rural area gave him a head start, but the true test that drove him deeper into farming arose from the difficult trials of life.
As a child, I engaged in farming, but once I was admitted to university in 2010, life became very challenging due to the financial demands of the educational system—like JAMB registration and clearance. I realized I needed to support my parents, who were small-scale farmers, so I developed a particular interest in agriculture. This allowed me to move from classroom to classroom, offering students orientation sessions during their free time. This passion continued to grow over the years. Today, 2025 marks 15 years of continuous service and involvement in agriculture," he said.
In an interview with the Weekend Trust regarding his agricultural ventures, Ekol shared that his journey began as a story of perseverance, optimism, enthusiasm, and commitment, which motivated him to establish farms that generate approximately 1,000 tonnes of cocoa and various tons of plantains, along with other diverse crops, within 15 years.
Sharing his early life experiences and the challenge of raising funds to support his studies, as well as the despair of finding employment or achieving empowerment post-NYSC, the young man chose to go back to the farm to try something new, working on the land until midnight alongside his late younger brother.
"Today, I can harvest no fewer than 1,000 tonnes of cocoa per harvest from the four existing farms. Plantain will provide me with a truck every week from the farm, which means I harvest four trucks in a month," he said.
Even though the young farmer did not pursue studies in agriculture or related disciplines, he has assisted numerous individuals in establishing their plantain and cocoa farms across various regions.
"I studied accounting, and I was doing it as one of those challenging tasks because I didn't have anywhere to apply my skills. I just did it to keep myself going during that period, hoping that after graduation I would land a good job in government parastatals, agencies, or similar organizations. However, after we graduated and the reality of being a graduate set in following several certification trainings and all that, nothing came through, to the point where I became frustrated. So I decided that if I had returned to the small-scale farming I was doing while in school, I could have developed it further. That's when I integrated agricultural skills with my accounting knowledge and called it 'Biological Assets Farming,'" he explained.
Ekol's understanding of accounting has allowed him to perform a distinctive action on the farms, ensuring he never faces financial difficulties at any stage: growing short-term crops to fund long-term ones.
Mr. Ekol, in his 30s and a parent to two children, referred to his four farms as 'companies' and 'biological assets,' and discussed the concept of cultivating various crops.
'I focused my understanding of accounting on biological assets, and within this area, we have income stream diversification, meaning that to create a long-term plan, you must also have a short-term plan. Therefore, economic trees act as the long-term strategy, while other crops such as tuber crops - yams, plantain, sweet potato, pepper, vegetables, and others - function as the short-term strategy. What we do now is, for example, if I were to set up a biological asset farm, I would use a specific piece of land and plant it entirely with plantains. These plantains first control weeds because when they form a canopy, they reduce weed growth, and this canopy can also support other shrubs and trees that need temporary shade. In this way, you end up with a plantain farm on that particular plot of land, along with cocoa growing at the same time, and palm trees planted sparsely throughout the farmland. Within seven to eight months, the plantains start producing resources that help maintain the farmlands where the long-term tree crops like cocoa are located. That's the concept: to diversify income streams so that short-term crops can cover the costs of long-term crops, preventing you from going out of business due to frustration after investing a lot without immediate returns. That's the idea,' he explained.
The farmer has also established a foundation named Tymdua Foundation, which aims to support and educate young farmers in agriculture by providing them with cocoa seeds, plantain suckers, and other forms of assistance to help them recognize potential within the industry.
Through TymdauR Global Limited, Ekol, the founder and chief executive officer, together with other partners, is spearheading an expansion into the production of cocoa, plantains, ogbono, oil palm, pears, and other tuber crops, as well as additional service delivery systems.
However, the primary issue is inadequate road access to the farms, which poses significant difficulties in transporting the harvest during the rainy season.
He urged the government, at both federal and state levels, to get involved in building access roads that link communities to their farms, which he claimed would make a significant difference.
Provided by SyndiGate Media Inc. (Syndigate.info).
