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SUNDAY2 TRUST
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BANKING STOCK MARKET PENSION ENTREPRENEUR HIP
Have you noticed that the costs of beef. tomato and pepper have risen astronomically? Factors ranging from the precarious security situation to drought are to blame. Our correspondents ill this report explain how these essential commodities are getting out of reach of the low income earner
Farmers, traders relate tales of insecurity, drought from Haml5u bbir ~wu. ~nY tuna; ~ lbnhim. Gombe; & tyimi M........
In Yobe, it's ban on mOlo rcydes VEGETABLE farmers In Yobe'
have attributed shortage of tomato and pepper to bad harvest. They also lament ban on commemaJ motorcycling in the crisis prone areas of the mlc.
Dry season fanners in the rnotorcyde: restricted areas complained of govemmenl fil.U~ 10 provide them with ahemalive mnns of transportation. According LO them, they face difficulty reaching urlxln alUS from thdr re:mOIt' (;urns. Thu hu resulted in
short. and skyrocUling prices oflhe needed commodifies in thC' $Iale.
Malam YUluf bigama bemoaned the losses he incurred as a result orban on commercial mOlon:ydes after ,"vcsting huge amounlS of monq- In his vegetabit: farm. He apr~. -'lost alii cullivated for bck of KCCSSIO the Farm. We used to produce lI1liler· loads of pepper, [omalO and onion worth ovu N5 million yearly. But I ha\'en't gOl a much tlW season. We recorded losses because Wlth Ihe motorcycle ban we were denied access to the fums so the pepper,lomatoand onion we cultivated perished." Alhaji labbi Malkanwa. Sar· kin Nomm Gashua confirmed the losses saying govrrnmrnt had promiJ:cd 10 provide alternative transportation means but f1iIIiled.
'"Vegetable fannm art facing very difficult time here. People in the lown afe suffering 100 because
many cannot buy fresh pcppt.:r and tomato. They are 100 expenSive," he Sialed. The village head of Sugurn, Lawan Ibrahim Dada said apart from the ban on motorcycle. the river supplymg waler for Irriga· tion and Krving for fishing 10 Sugum and adjourning villages dried up last season and that alTe<led the produaion of vqetables. Our reporter's visjl to DamatUfU mark.el r~ealed that a bag of pepper cost over NII,OOO while that of tomato $Old al N 10.000. '"In faa, this season is diffe~L Lasl year, by thiJ time pncesof vegetables were low but many households resorted 10 usc of canned tomato," a tomato seller revealed in Gashua market.. Malam Su1eman Kurfi. a vegetable meKhan! in DamalUru told our correspondent thai he buys a bag of tomato and pqJper from the SOUfct al NJO.OOO. He explained, -We pay transport COsUIO the markrt ~fore we sell. When we add all these costs, vegetables become too aperuive_ Cwtomerscompla!n, many vegetable sellers give up the trade for other bwlnesses." Chairman. Cattle Merchants and BreWers Association of Nigeria (Yobe chapler) AlhilJi MU$a Mairago attributed high cost ofmeilt to low supply of callie 10 livestock mark.ets aerou the
siale. "The caltJe breeders and sellers no longer have confidence in NlgeriasSKUritYS)'ltml. Theyare still recovering from the shocks of the callie market massacre.
Those coming to KII their caltJe
from Niger Republic are no longer jntcrc:sled," Mairago said Secretary Miyctli Allah, AlhaJi Khalil Bello told Sumlay Trust thai apart from the catlle breeden boycou, some herdsmen have: SlOpped seiling their callie too. -Most of the cattle rearers usually sell when Ihere is poor pasture. 50 they normally sdIsome to buy fodder for the rest bUI as the rainy season sets in, the liveslock feed on fresh leaves and grasses 10 the bush: he explained. Gombe feeling the pinch Consumers In Gomble my and environs are now feeling the pinch as lomalo is sold at exorbilant priCes. Chedts at the famous Kwadon vegetable market 10 Akko local government area of
the state I?vealed that, prices of tomato, ~per and their like have skyrocketed. A basket of tomalo hitherto sold for only N2,OOO now goes fo.-as was NS,OOO. BefoI? now, irrigation farmers particularlyal OadinKowa dam irrigalion sites usually dumped their produce due 10 their Inability to access markets. Mallam Mohammed aka Mal Tomato lold Sunday Trwt that, all the vegetable sellers in the slate now rei)' on 10mal0 broughl from los in Plateau State and the pepper that is brought from KalSlOa State.. He blamed the situation on governments InabiUlY to provide water for irrigoAUun. He saJd Farmers plant only during the rainy season-from Scplember to Nove:m~r adding that from the month of March everything nops. A vegetable retailer, Mallam Danjuma Yahaya told this reporter thai the lwok.ct oflomalO formerly sold to them for N2,OOO 10 N4,OOO now costs N5,OOO while a sack of ~r which was N 11,000 is DOW N I 5,000. Pepper commonly called luarugu now costs NI4,OOO. He said, the only cheap commodily now In Gombe is onion which iJ sold for N5,OOO
..,ud.
The cattle breeders and sellers no longer have confidence in Nigeria's security system_ They are still recovering from the shocks ofthe cattle market massacre
Most of the Irrigation farmers inlervi.ewed called on the state gow:mmenl 10 assist farmers with water sources that wUl enable them 10 produce all year round saying the rising cost of the commodilies has forced many low Income earners 10 abandon use of $Ome condiments while preparing their meals. Governor Ibr.ahlm Hassan DankWillI1bo in his f'irstanniversary Interview with Daily TniSt promised [0 re educate Ihe farmers SO Ihey produce high qua.lity produce. Dankwambo describe tomato as a commodity thallhe state has comparative advantage of saying governmenl would provide I commodity a.change platform
where farmers wiU sell I ) the government which wUl11i t Im..ell in the intrmalional markt 1_ In Kano it's bus! les.. like before Oespitr the security challenge facing Kllno Stat(' since the Janu· ary alluck, the busin~ of trans· porting animals and Ie)( d items Is thrivmg. The only time Ihal tht business "'....s suspended I r.lS when thert ,",'ere crises in !-.atlun .• Siale and parts orPlateau 5 ill e, a tk:aIcr in condimenls in K.m) turkel, Alha)i Mansur Seam..n it.ltd He said on daily b ISis from different markets acr);5,5 J{.;uJo Stale, no f~er ,han 503 Vl"hldes ranging from small to Jig trucks leave the pyr.amid dry for places like Port Harcourt, As:. ba, lagos among others. He !>ad, ~Thcse crises have nOI affeaec our bUSIness because we an.- ! till transponlngourgoodsloth 'so uhern part oflhe country on , ail,-basis. Even as I'm talking to yOIl nOh', we have loaded trodi: i dl<ll are leaving for Port Haroo Irt, Asaba and Lagos. The only tiJ,e Ihal we encountered problem WI.! when crises erupted in Ka.d :.l1 a and los." The slory is the same in the livestock markeL A deder at the UlIguwa Uku cit e mamt. Alhaji Alin Kern saMi the crises have nOI affected theu bu5incu. MBusmess 15 going on I Kluse on a dally basis. we trampolrilloliess than seven trl!cks 10 ..agJS Ind south-cast, south-south >tat~" he r~ealed. How~er, a deakr. I G;1ndun Albasa canle market ... ho Cfalv<"d anonymity Aid local, Olll umers wt!re nOI patronizing them 1iI~ they did before tbe a !Ida. He noted lhal sometimes Illey ,Illy for two duys without sclli 19. single animal nOlingthat in It ep;-1St they could sell more than) 0 in. w.y. He added that on his fart. he has not taken anyanlmall'l th:soutl since lanuary because lffc-an..