Growing Food, Losing Futures: How farming is keeping children out of school in Oyo rural communities

By David Olatunji

In Ido Local Government Area of Oyo State, South-West Nigeria, newly built classrooms stand beside sprawling farmlands. But while school buildings rise, many children in Akufo and Araro communities are absent from class spending their days planting, harvesting and hauling farm produce instead of learning alongside their peers.

On a narrow farm path, 15-year-old Rasheedat crouches to peel cassava while her classmates attend lessons at Community High School, Ido. She goes to school only twice a week. “I usually attend on Wednesdays and Thursdays, unless there is a test,” she said.

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“Most of the time, I am here helping my father because the farm work demands it.”
What keeps Ms Rasheedat out of school is not a lack of classrooms, but poverty, an economic reality pushing many rural families to rely on their children’s labour to survive. She began helping her father on the farm at a young age, initially on Sundays, but the pressure of farm work has since pushed her into weekday labour.

Like Ms Rasheedat, many children in her community are trading textbooks for hoes and cutlasses, a development that shows a stark reality in Ido.

For parents in rural communities across the LGA, the income from maize, cassava, pepper and other farm produce is not enough to keep their children in school. As a result, children are frequently absent from class, particularly on market days, when families carry produce to town.

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A mother who simply identified herself as Magaret said, “Our children mostly delve into farming rather than going to school. The little funds we make from farming are what we manage to use to meet our needs.”

Trauma and early marriage

For Cecilia Frederick, the decision to leave school was more tragic than economic. At age 10, she witnessed a classroom wall collapse, killing a classmate. Due to the trauma that followed the death of her colleague, she could not continue her education.

“The teacher was teaching us when a part of the wall in the classroom collapsed on my classmate. The incident left some injured and caused the death of one,” she recalled. Despite her parents’ pleas, the trauma kept her away from school.

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Ms Frederick, who was born into a family that sees farming as a way of survival, ventured into full-time farming alongside her parents at a very young age. “My parents advised me to overturn my decision and go back to school, but I was very adamant, maybe due to the trauma,” she said.

“Farming is a good job for me, but I do not wish to continue until my old age. I wish to go back to school and make a better living for myself.”

She attributed her early marriage to inability to pursue her ambition through education, amidst cultural validation. “My culture permits us to either engage in family ways (get married), learn a trade, or go into farming once a child stops going to school,” she said.

 

Ms Frederick’s daily life as a young woman who embarked on early marriage seems quite exhausting and monotonous. “Initially, it was really tough for me because I had to wake up as early as possible to take care of my child and husband. But over time, I got the hang of it,” she said.

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Now as a young mother, she is eager to return to school, believing that education is a vital aspect of life. “Getting married early isn’t the best choice for young girls who drop out of school. I am ready to go back to school because I do not see my child as an obstacle.”

Concerned teacher
Teachers in Ido confirm that academic attendance drops sharply on farm and market days. A teacher who spoke on condition of anonymity noted that attendance drops more frequently at the secondary level compared to the primary level.

“Some of these parents will tell us, ‘Nobody will help me on the farm, and my children are my only option.’”

The teacher also highlighted that many students lack uniforms, textbooks, notebooks, and other necessities parents often cannot afford, forcing teachers to buy supplies out of pocket to encourage attendance.

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“Most of the time, we as teachers use our money to buy uniforms for some students who appear in badly torn school uniforms. If you ask the students, they will tell you that their parents do not have enough money to buy new ones, not even textbooks or notebooks, or that their parents are not making enough money from farm trade. We are taking all these actions as educators to encourage them to stay in school,” the teacher mentioned.

Structural gaps
During visits to schools in the Ido areas, such as NUD Primary School and Community High School, it is noticeable that while there are teachers present, essential infrastructure like classrooms, desks, and chairs is severely lacking, forcing students to sit in uncomfortable conditions.

Teachers also raised concerns about vandalism and theft due to lack of security such as fences and gates.

Additionally, some of the schools do not have proper and functional toilets, making them unsuitable for both students and teachers. When students need to relieve themselves, they often resort to open defecation, which puts them at risk of various dangers, particularly infections among female students.

Teachers in the local communities mentioned that the limited efforts to repair and renovate facilities come mainly from Parent-Teacher Associations and contributions from non-governmental interventions.

 

While the Oyo State government has provided new buildings and renovations, including a new block at Community Primary School, Idi-Igbaro, progress remains slow and uneven.

Meanwhile, in a bid to address teacher shortages in public schools, Governor Seyi Makinde’s administration in early 2025, deployed about 5,600 teachers to different local governments across the state. As of the time of this report, 135 teachers have been assigned to 37 schools in Ido to advance educational progress in the region.

What data says
Nigeria’s out-of-school burden is among the highest in the world. According to the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) 2024 report, there are approximately 18.3 million out-of-school children nationwide with 10.2 million in primary and 8.1 million in the secondary school-age groups.

According to the report, the crisis is driven by insecurity, poverty and underfunded schools, with the North-East disproportionately affected and girls especially vulnerable.

In Oyo State, civil society data also reveals that barriers to education include poverty, child labour, early marriage, cultural beliefs and lack of infrastructure.

An analysis by One Life Initiative estimates that a girl in a public secondary school requires about ₦84,000 per term to cover transportation, feeding, hygiene and school materials, a cost that many rural families cannot bear.

Sola Fagorusi, Executive Director of One Life Initiative, also noted that girl-child education in Oyo State is being endangered through parents’ ignorance, gender-based violence, and the absence of WASH facilities, leading to inconveniences in schools.

Speaking on efforts being made to address the menace, Fagorusi noted the successful interventions of his NGO, explaining that “our initiative includes a data-driven approach, as seen in our state of girls’ child education report. Also, we have conducted teacher-specific training for teachers and corps members in Oyo State on gender-responsive education sector planning,” he said.

“It has helped teachers in Oyo to know how to provide gender-responsive teachings for girl students. We also had several teachings on digital literacy, decision-making skills, and health-related issues for the girl child.”

He suggested that the Ministry of Education should remain receptive to input from various stakeholders in enhancing WASH facilities in schools and that the government should be transparent about its challenges.

Local efforts

Speaking on behalf of Mumini Bukola, the Ido Education Secretary, a woman identified as Babatunde, Social Mobilisation Officer for Ido Universal Basic Education Authority (UBEA), reflected on the activities of the board across the schools within the local settlements, alongside the underlying challenges.

Mrs. Babatunde attributed the rural environment to being one filled with numerous educational confrontations. “Ido is a rural environment, and we are facing some challenges in the education sector, and the government is outrightly helping, but it can’t solve it all. I would say we are 50% aligned,” she said.

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She highlighted the recent activities of the local education board in sensitising parents, especially farmers. “We do engage with community leaders, parents/farmers, and even market vendors across different local settlements in Ido about the importance of the female child attending school.”

“Some of the plans include Better Education Service Delivery for All (BESDA), which aims to bring every learner back to school due to the high prevalence of poverty, parental negligence, and other factors,” she mentioned.

Mrs. Babatunde also discussed the recent renovation to schools in Ido, which include Saint Peters Primary School in Apete, Saint Andrew Primary School in Omi, Saint Paul Primary School in Iyana-Odere, IDC Primary School in Iyana-Odere, Onidoko Primary School, and several others in Abule-Ayo.

Way forward in Oyo state’s Education

According to the Oyo state’s 2025 budget, Education received the second-highest allocation after infrastructure with a total overall budget of approximately ₦684 billion (signed into law on December 23, 2024). Following this, it reflects a commitment to improving access, infrastructure, and teacher welfare in the State. However, as of December 2025, many of these educational problems remained unresolved, as seen in the female out-of-school crisis in Ido and across other local governments in Oyo state.

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The Gender-responsive Education Sector Plan (GRESP) assumes the blueprint role in dismantling the barriers chaining girls like Cecilia and Rasheedat into farming, early marriages, and more. Following the expiration of the formal Education Sector Plan (ESP) in 2022, which limits the integration of GRESP principles, Oyo state can be said to be ‘GRESP-less’ and partially gender-blind, failing to adequately tackle issues like girls’ enrolment and retention.

Education has remained a priority in Oyo state, as evident in the 2025 budget where ₦149.6 billion (21.4 per cent) was allocated to education, and the proposed 2026 budget which increased to ₦155.21 billion. Amidst all these, the focus seems to be on ‘infrastructure and teacher welfare’ but lacks explicit GRESP mechanisms.

Since Seyi Makinde’s emergence in 2019, he has ensured a quick fight against out-of-school children in Oyo. However, experts have noted that without GRESP rapid implementation, Oyo might risk being in a situation where uneducated girls give birth to the next generation of out-of-school daughters.

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GRESP functions more as a policy instrument rather than a formal legislative act, often integrated into sector plans or budgets instead of being independent laws. While certain budget provisions occasionally highlight themes of equity, inclusiveness, and gender, they largely overlook specific allocations for girls, such as support for those who are pregnant or require reintegration.

This report was facilitated by DevReporting in partnership with Education As a Vaccine (EVA) and supported by the Malala Fund.