By Ogaga Ariemu
Shehu Jibrin, the Chairman of Mile 12 International Market Lagos, has blamed insufficient supply, insecurity, and infestation for the more than 500 percent price hike of tomatoes and pepper in Nigeria.
Jibrin disclosed this in an interview on Channels Television, monitored by DAILY POST on Monday.
DAILY POST gathered that three pieces of tomatoes and pepper are now sold for N1000 and N500, up from N100 and N50 a few months ago in most markets across Nigeria. This indicates that the price of tomatoes and peppers increased by 900 percent in the period under review.
Speaking on the price hike, Jibrin noted that the supply of tomatoes and peppers to Lagos from other states dropped significantly due to insecurity and plant diseases.
He said, “Except the government tackles insecurity, the problem of high prices of tomatoes and peppers will remain unsolved.
“This is the off-season now, so we expect tomatoes to come from Ilaro, Ogbomosho, Abeokuta, Osun, and part of Cameroon to come to Lagos. Unfortunately, the ones from Cameroon, Ogbomosho, and Abeokuta are late. The ones from Cameroon cannot feed the nation. The demand is high, but the supply is insufficient.
“We expect tomatoes from the North to be available at this time, but because of the tomato Ebola disease, we cannot have sufficient supply.
“Let’s assume that we have 5000 farmers in the country, less than 1500 are farming with their eyes closed. Most farmers in the North are currently in internally displaced camps. If Nigeria cannot tackle insecurity, the prices of tomatoes, peppers, and other perishables will continue to go up. Farmers are not going to the farm due to insecurity. There is no solution except for farmers going to the farm,” he said.
Earlier, the Minister of Agriculture, Abubakar Kyari, blamed the price hike of tomatoes on its scarcity caused by an infestation of tomato farms known as tomato Ebola or tomato leaf miners.
The Tomatoes Growers Association of Nigeria also blamed Tomatoes Ebola for the hike in the price of the food product.
Recall that the National Bureau of Statistics, in its latest Consumer Price Index and Inflation report, said food inflation increased to 40.66 per cent and 40.53 per cent, respectively.