By EBK Riley

"How about Maine?" Mike asked

"That's in the upper right corner, right?"

"The what?  You mean is it in the Northeast, in New England?" He laughed

"Yeah, that's on the upper right when you look at the map, like we're on the lower left."

"You mean the Southwest, because Arizona is in the Southwest, not the lower left."

Even though we hadn't been on a car trip longer than an hour, we were seriously considering moving across the country together. We were both going to grad school, partly because I was finally finishing my bachelor's degree after many false starts and big gaps, and partly because we were both ready for a change--together-- which was a change in itself. Mike was considering lots of options and had sent for applications from universities all over the country. I saw brochures coming in the mail from the University of Michigan and Notre Dame. When we talked about grad school again, I said, "I don't want to live in the middle."

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By Trina Moyles

The mother who wrote these words is Susan Godwin, a Nigerian farmer. Susan has five children, and farms seven hectares of yams, groundnuts, and maize. She uses a hand-hoe to crack open the earth and plant the seeds that pay for her children’s school fees. All children have left for the city to work, study and live – all but one remaining daughter who wants to become a farmer. And for that, Susan is fearful.

Susan’s essay, “My Daughter Wants to Be a Farmer” was recently published by Oxfam in a series entitled: The Future of Agriculture (2013). Oxfam published 23 essays in total, which were solicited from high-level policy analysts, leaders from non-profit organizations, CEOs from seed companies, and international activists. Of the 23 contributors, Susan was the only farmer.

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