Page:Niger Delta Ecosystems- the ERA Handbook, 1998.djvu/215

Human Ecosystems: Anyama District of the dynamic nature of the local river systems. Theses costs affect local people most but also have an impact on the ecological and economic health of the whole region.

Future Economic Costs include not only all those mentioned above, which continue, but also others including the concentration of new income into fewer hands, and the reduction of local income. This in turn leads to all the social costs of a fractured society which arise from an unfair distribution of income. As originally conceived, the Risonpalm project at Onuebum is a prime example: the local people would have lost the income which they would have otherwise obtained from the forest (for instance from the Ibibio gin distillers who each pay the community 25 litres of gin - equal to about N500 per month), whilst the new income would have gone to employees and share holders of the project.

At the end of this chapter are extracts of literature which indicate the nature of the opposition to the Risonpalm project.

18.7 THE ECONOMY

Rice farming, taking advantage of the annual flooding, is the prime economic activity in Anyama and the major export, so much so that the community celebrates a rice festival at the end of December. The activity is dominated by men. Prices are very high, having risen from N30 per 50kg in 1990 to N900 per 50kg in December 1993.

Other arable farming takes second place to rice: it is subsistence and dominated by women. The main crops are plantains and cassava, but maize and sugar cane is planted on the most recent alluvial deposits that are exposed in the dry season. Other crops include mammy-yam (a small cocoyam), fluted pumpkin and pineapples.

Other primary agricultural industries are: oil-palm, which was the prime economic activity before rice; fish-farming; raising goats and chickens; raffia wine tapping; hunting; and fishing in the river, the lakes and swamps.

In 1993 what struck the ERA visitors to the Anyama was what economic activity was not going on: rice was not processed and having been boiled and dried, was taken by flying boat to Yenegoa to be milled; there is a good mini oil mill in the village but in 1993 it was not working and palm oil and kernel was produced in the most primitive way. However in 1996 things had changed: the oil mill had been taken over and was being privately run, able to buy local fresh fruit bunches and to provide employment, while a small rice mill was operating.

Other important secondary industries in Anyama are: gin distilling from raffia palmwine; and sawing. Non-agricultural secondary industry includes: cabinet-making; canoe building; brick making; and building and carpentry.

Trading is important, as it is in all Nigerian communities but the market is small and we were told that traders do not want to come. This may be because the big market at Yenegoa is so near. There were Igbo (second-hand clothes) and Hausa traders in the village.

18.8 ANYAMA AS SEEN BY LOCAL PEOPLE

As map 9. shows, the river is the most important feature in the landscape and its erosion of the waterfront is a constant complaint.

After the river, the next most important feature is the main street of the village which runs parallel to the river. The forest was described as vast, "stretching all the way to Oloibiri" although a map showed it as just another block of land use, the same as the 213