Seasonal changes, insecurity result in 500% hike in vegetable prices

Seasonal changes and heightening insecurity in parts of northern Nigeria have caused prices of tomatoes and pepper to shoot up by about 500 percent, resulting in increased individual and household spending and higher costs for outdoor food providers.
A 50kg basket of tomatoes, which costs about N3,000 in due season in the south-west of the country, currently sells for between N15,000 and N17,000.
Market watchers say prices of the produce usually spiral to about 300 percent during the rainy season on account of scarcity.
Total annual demand for tomatoes in Nigeria is
2.3 million metric tonnes, according to figures supplied by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) at the National Tomato Technical Working Group (NTTWG), recently. However, output currently stands at 1.8 million metric tonnes, estimated at N108 billion, based on the N3,000 price for 50kg of tomatoes, leaving an annual shortfall of 0.5 million metric tonnes.
Afioluwa Mogaji, chief executive, X-ray Consulting, explains that tomatoes take about 60 to 90 days between planting and harvest, saying that around May to July in the south-west and south-east and during the rains, there are more tomatoes still in the fields than in supply to the market, which leads to increased prices.
“In the northern part of the country, these tomatoes and pepper are cultivated under irrigation, and by April, the funding provided by the federal, state and local governments for irrigation, mainly for the purchase of diesel to power the facilities, is stopped and resumes in October,” Mogaji says.
He adds that after irrigation is stopped, many farmers in the north prepare the land for rain-fed agriculture and most of the land used for irrigated cultivation of tomatoes during the dry season is put under rice cultivation.
Mogaji further says the support provided by the government in terms of dry-season farming in the north has helped in keeping the price of a 50kg basket of tomatoes at less than N20,000 because in previous years, this quantity went for as high as N22,000, adding that if the insecurity in the north worsens, the price situation could likewise worsen Farmers, traders and transporters tell BusinessDay that many farms in the north-east of the country have been abandoned due to the security threat posed by Boko Haram insurgents. Many of the farmers were also said to have gone in pursuit of other means of livelihood, while the more resolute have crossed borders into neighbouring states and countries, including Niger Republic, Chad, as well as Mali, to continue their farming vocation.
“The solution is for farmers in the south-west and south-east to engage more in irrigation and Fadama farming, which is farming in swampy lands, so that prices of crops such as tomatoes would not sky-rocket at certain times of the year, causing hardship. Irrigation and Fadama farming would, of course, need government support,” Mogaji says.
Obiajuru Igborgbor of Novus Agro Commodity Index, a food prices research firm, says during the rainy season, the rains aggravate the condition of the roads, and trucks transporting food produce from one part of the country to another experience delays in movement or accidents, and some of the tomatoes and peppers which are very highly perishable foods are lost, so the quantity that get to their destinations on time are relatively small, which causes price hikes.
“Also, J5 buses now deliver tomatoes to many markets, instead of trailers, resulting in higher transportation costs,” she adds.
Igborgbor says during the rains, farmers also have a very tough time preventing spoilage of these tomatoes and peppers, as some farmlands become inaccessible.
She notes that in 2012, the prices of tomato and pepper were relatively stable because excesses were stored during the season and were released into the market in the off-season.
Mojisola Onifade of Framoni Farms and Foods Limited says the challenges causing scarcity of these foodstuffs at certain times of the year are due to inability of the stakeholders to manage the processes effectively, using appropriate technologies.
“In Dubai, one can get these foods fresh all year round. Israel, which is also located in a desert, has adequate fresh food supply all year round. In temperate countries, where there is extreme cold, foods that need drying are dried at any time of the year,” she says.