Food Blockade: Northern Farmers, Marketers Lament Losses
Farmers and marketers of tomatoes and onions from the northern parts of the country are daily bemoaning their huge losses as the food blockade order by the Amalgamated Union of Foodstuff and Cattle Dealers of Nigeria (AUFCDN) persists.
A report, on Wednesday, revealed that a bag of onions now sells for N7000 as against N10000 before the strike at Gun-dutse Onions Market in Kano State, just as tomatoes rotten away in the market.
It was also revealed that many tomato farmers have abandoned their farms due to a shortage of outlets, as well as their inability to continue spending their resources in harvesting the produce.
AUFCDN had, Thursday, last week, blocked the shipping of cattle and farm produce to the southern part of the country in compensation for its members who were allegedly affected in the recent ethnic violence at Sasa Market in Ibadan, Oyo State.
However, the decision by the cattle and foodstuff union has become a double-edged sword; while it led to an increase in the prices of tomatoes and onions in the South, farmers and marketers are reportedly suffering huge loses, as the strike has also brought prices crashing in Kano and some other parts of the North.
“It is an irony that as tomato and onion scarcity prevails in the South, the vegetables are flooding markets in the North, selling at giveaway prices. That is not good news for farmers.
“The scarcity in the South is occasioned by the strike by the AUFCDN, which has blocked the shipment of cattle and farm produce to the South while demanding compensation and safety guarantees for their members affected by the #EndSARS protest and the violence at Sasa Market in Ibadan.
“AUFCDN, an affiliate of the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC), commenced the action following the expiration of a seven-day ultimatum given to the federal government to attend to their demands.
“But with the strike entering its fifth day (on Tuesday), farmers and foodstuff marketers in Kano, especially those who deal with tomatoes, have begun to feel the impact with prices further plummeting.
“Findings revealed that many tomato farmers have abandoned their farms due to a shortage of outlets as well as their inability to continue spending their resources in harvesting the produce.
“Many farmers now prefer to cut their losses and allow the tomatoes to rot on the farms, rather than expend resources to package and transport it to the southern part of the country.
“This is because AUFCDN officials have mounted blockades to enforce compliance at strategic places like Lokoja in Kogi State and Jebba in Kwara State,” the report revealed.
It was further learnt that the strike order by the union has created serious tomato glut, with the farmers counting their losses, instead of having gains during the harvest season.
Several tomato farms due for harvest are said to be lying wast at the Kadawa Irrigation Site in Garun Malam Local Government Area of Kano State as the farms are left unattended to by the farmers.
Rather than being a blessing, the state chairman of Tomato Out Growers Association of Nigeria (TOGAN), Alhaji Sani Danladi Yadakwari, said the recent order of food blockade by AUFCDN has dealt farmers a heavy blow.
According to him, already there has been a glut in tomato harvested in this year’s dry season in the state, which resulted in a drastic crash in its price in the open market.
Yadakwari said tomato farmers in the state have called on the state government to intervene and save the situation to save the farmers from incurring heavy losses that might result in the total crippling of tomato farming.
“There is a need for the government and other authorities concerned to wade into the issue and rescue these farmers from total loss,” he was quoted to have said.
It is the same story at Kwanar Gafan Tomato Market in Garun Malam Local Government Area, where it was gathered that the market that initially loads about 35 to 40 trucks of tomatoes to other parts of the country everyday has not loaded a single truck in the last five days.
Malam Ibrahim Ghali Dumaji, a tomato merchant, reportedly said current tomato price has not been favourable and encouraging as tomatoes that could fill a big basket is sold at N850, while the basket itself is sold at N750, thereby bringing the total cost of a basket of tomato to N1600.
“The union’s recent strike and the current glut has thrown tomato farmers, marketers and other perishable farmers in Kano State into a serious crisis as many farmers abandoned their farms, awaiting a miracle.
“This is a serious challenge, taking into consideration the cost of production and other expenses incurred during the planting and harvesting processes,” he said.
However, Dangote Tomato Processing Company, operating under the Anchor Borrower Programme (ABP), may have come to the rescue of the tomato farmers as it reportedly offers more than the farmers can make in the open markets.
At Gun-dutse Onion Market, onions merchants are also not faring any better as it was gathered that a big sack of onions that was selling for N35, 000 a few weeks ago and N10, 000, just before the strike, now sells for N7, 000.
One of the onion marketers at the market, Malam Muhammed Ibrahim, was reported to have said that 20 truckloads of onions used to depart the market to various parts of the country on daily basis, but with recent developments, only three truckloads have left the market since Thursday.
Ibrahim said the strike action of AUFCDN has affected the prices of onions in the market, adding: “As you can see us, we are just here expecting and hoping for things to go back to normal.
“A bag of onions, sold at N10, 000 a few days ago, is now N7, 000 and even at that, there are no buyers. Our prayer is that the union and all parties concerned should amicably put an end to this strike for us to be able to survive this harsh economic situation,” he said.
As traders are still battling to sell off the goods in their possession, farmers remains at loss as to what to do with the ones on the farm, just as it was revealed that despite the glut in onion in most of the markets in the state, more onion farms are yet to be harvested.
Source: Daily Trust Newspaper (03/03/2021)
