Publisher, Business Plus Magazine, Dr (Mrs) Grace Achum, says though she has now gone into full-scale commercial farming, journalism still remains her first love.
Speaking with the Media Career Development Network, Achum said she started farming initially as leisure.
Having worked in various media outfits for years, she said she decided to go into full-scale farming in order to serve her community, the state and the nation.
To manifest her passion for farming, the publisher said she enrolled for a six-week course on all aspects of farming with the Lagos state farm service centre, at Oko-Oba in Agege.
“Yes, I am still a journalist and running my magazine every month, but I now own a commercial farm at my husband’s community-Achalla, where I raise fishes, birds, chickens, snails, goats, rabbits, etc.
“Apart from this, I also plant carrots, cucumber, oranges, mangoes and other fruits.
“With the encouragement, I am seeing since I started this commercial farming last year, I am hoping that five, ten years down the line, my farm produce should be able to feed the people of Achalla, Anambra state and possibly our entire nation,” she stated.
The publisher-turned-farmer further explained that she is grateful to the vigilante groups in Achalla, as well as workers from the Anambra state ministry of agriculture and the veterinary sections, who normally come to inspect my farm.
Her interest in journalism started years back when her late husband, a retired comptroller of customs, appealed to her not to work, but to stay at home and raise their children as a full-time housewife.
She explained that she used the opportunity to read all sorts of books and developed herself as a writer, before enrolling at Times Journalism Institute to read journalism and later read Marketing at the Lagos State University, LASU.
In view of the distress in the media, distress in our country, COVID19 break-up and insecurity she urged practising and young journalists to embrace farming as another stream of income for themselves.
