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| Nigerian Tomato |
Any cursory follower of contemporary activities within
the Nigerian agricultural space will notice the ’emergency level’
scarcity of tomato across the country.
It will be recalled that about this time last year, AgroNigeria had embarked on an expensive national awareness programme aimed at sensitization about the immediate causes of tomato scarcity experienced across the country, at that time. This prompted spirited effort on the part of stakeholders to address the trend. But, the question is, how effective were those efforts?
Well, the jury is back. As the current unbelievably high price of tomatoes across the country clearly shows, the authorities have failed woefully in terms of rallying existing energies to address the problem. A basket of tomatoes which sold for between N500 – N800 about a month ago, now goes for N17,000 and N20,000. That kind of inflationary leap would leave even Elon Musk and his Tesla Rocket Program gasping for breath.
The pun aside, Nigeria is staring down an economic ‘double barrel’, without a doubt, and the situation requires some inspirational leadership from the managers of our politico-economic fortunes. The Vice-President, Professor Yomi Osinbajo needs to roll-up his sleeves and up his game! We need the intellectual depth and acumen for which he is famed. Things are spinning wildly out of control on many fronts in Nigerian agriculture and this despite the best efforts so far undertaken. A key reason for this is the abhorrent lack of coordination and narrow stakeholder consultation cum input into the policy drive of the government. Add to this the government’s growing aversion for informed advice and you will have a complete recipe for failure.
But we refuse to allow the status quo a free hand. Nigeria has far too much agricultural promise that it would border on sheer criminality to stand idly by and watch it being frittered away. We are fresh from 3 years of informed policy reforms that saw us begin to get a sense of what Eldorado might not just ‘look like’ but ‘feel like’. So let’s keep that tempo going. The Minister for agriculture needs to understand that there is a national food crisis in the offing and so he should naturally assume the reins of control – in real terms – and report to the Vice-President who will in turn keep the President updated about developments in the sector.
Back to the acute shortage – which is playing out in virtually all other aspects of the commodity agribusiness. It is the direct consequence of the destructive activities of a pest known as the ‘tomato leaf miner.’ The operations of this moth is responsible for the drastic reduction -and in some cases extirpating – of tomato supplies from the north.
The moth, scientifically known as Tuta Absoluta, has a reputation for swiftly ravaging tomato cultivation in a little above 48 hours – prompting farmers to nickname it Tomato Ebola. It can breed between 10-12 generations in a year with the female capable of laying between 250 – 300 eggs within its life time.
In and around Makarfi, Hunkuyi, Soba and Zuntu villages of Kaduna, in Danja Katsina State and in Kadawa, Dakasoye and Kura villages in Kano state the story is the same; tomato farmers within the last month have recorded a minimum of 40% crop loss to the menace.
But Alhaji O. Aminu, a farmer and wholesaler at Danmagaji market Zaria, shed more light on the situation when he noted that the effects of climate change have also weighed-in against the crop. According to him, there is a widespread stunting of tomatoes due to the excessive heat recorded this year. Another farmer Mallam Abdullahi Umaru said all his effort to prevent the outbreak in his farm came to no avail. His use of insecticide had not yielded any result as the pest seems to have developed some resistance to the chemicals. Two issues crop up here: the first is that the negative impact of climate change has settled into Nigerian agriculture. Secondly, we are treated to the possible implications of chemical adulteration. These must be tackled vigorously.
Also speaking Mallam Inusa, another Zaria local farmer lamented the losses suffered in production with complete wipe out in some farms and pointed to the bare nature of assistance received from the government so far.
At AgroNigeria, we consider the action of the government on this issue to be downright unacceptable. The nature of the response, by States like Kano and Kaduna, which saw the government going into exploratory talks with chemical producing companies should have attained national prominence by now.
Companies like Russell IPM – a UK based outfit with size able expertise and experience in combating this pest, particularly given their bio-efficient approach – should have been formally contracted long before now, to provide ideas and solutions to the problem. Which leads me to ask why we must always wait for problems to get out of hand before addressing them? Or why we disdain simple, timely and resource savvy solutions to problems and rather gravitate towards the complex, all with a mindset that wants to throw money around?
It is high-time that we truly approach agriculture as a business. That will mean going about it with the mindset of the private sector. Here, we look for efficiency and timeliness coupled with solution. Problems need to be solved, not created. One begins to wonder whether the FMARD has lost its recently recovered “private sector cladding”. There is too much at stake for the Nigerian economy.
That is so much the case when considering that Dansa Agro-Allied Ltd, has just commissioned a mammoth tomato processing plant in Kano, and deserves to have constant and qualitative tomato produce to feed its machines. Inaction on the part of government will only result in the failure of its policy thrust aimed at ensuring local production of tomato paste – a key foreign exchange drain. Should the Dangote tomato processing business collapse, one can only imagine what that will portend in terms of dampening of private agribusiness investment appetite.
Given the high stakes, it is clear that lethargy, whether perceived or actual, cannot be condoned. Our government must act now, and decisively too!
It will be recalled that about this time last year, AgroNigeria had embarked on an expensive national awareness programme aimed at sensitization about the immediate causes of tomato scarcity experienced across the country, at that time. This prompted spirited effort on the part of stakeholders to address the trend. But, the question is, how effective were those efforts?
Well, the jury is back. As the current unbelievably high price of tomatoes across the country clearly shows, the authorities have failed woefully in terms of rallying existing energies to address the problem. A basket of tomatoes which sold for between N500 – N800 about a month ago, now goes for N17,000 and N20,000. That kind of inflationary leap would leave even Elon Musk and his Tesla Rocket Program gasping for breath.
The pun aside, Nigeria is staring down an economic ‘double barrel’, without a doubt, and the situation requires some inspirational leadership from the managers of our politico-economic fortunes. The Vice-President, Professor Yomi Osinbajo needs to roll-up his sleeves and up his game! We need the intellectual depth and acumen for which he is famed. Things are spinning wildly out of control on many fronts in Nigerian agriculture and this despite the best efforts so far undertaken. A key reason for this is the abhorrent lack of coordination and narrow stakeholder consultation cum input into the policy drive of the government. Add to this the government’s growing aversion for informed advice and you will have a complete recipe for failure.
But we refuse to allow the status quo a free hand. Nigeria has far too much agricultural promise that it would border on sheer criminality to stand idly by and watch it being frittered away. We are fresh from 3 years of informed policy reforms that saw us begin to get a sense of what Eldorado might not just ‘look like’ but ‘feel like’. So let’s keep that tempo going. The Minister for agriculture needs to understand that there is a national food crisis in the offing and so he should naturally assume the reins of control – in real terms – and report to the Vice-President who will in turn keep the President updated about developments in the sector.
Back to the acute shortage – which is playing out in virtually all other aspects of the commodity agribusiness. It is the direct consequence of the destructive activities of a pest known as the ‘tomato leaf miner.’ The operations of this moth is responsible for the drastic reduction -and in some cases extirpating – of tomato supplies from the north.
The moth, scientifically known as Tuta Absoluta, has a reputation for swiftly ravaging tomato cultivation in a little above 48 hours – prompting farmers to nickname it Tomato Ebola. It can breed between 10-12 generations in a year with the female capable of laying between 250 – 300 eggs within its life time.
In and around Makarfi, Hunkuyi, Soba and Zuntu villages of Kaduna, in Danja Katsina State and in Kadawa, Dakasoye and Kura villages in Kano state the story is the same; tomato farmers within the last month have recorded a minimum of 40% crop loss to the menace.
But Alhaji O. Aminu, a farmer and wholesaler at Danmagaji market Zaria, shed more light on the situation when he noted that the effects of climate change have also weighed-in against the crop. According to him, there is a widespread stunting of tomatoes due to the excessive heat recorded this year. Another farmer Mallam Abdullahi Umaru said all his effort to prevent the outbreak in his farm came to no avail. His use of insecticide had not yielded any result as the pest seems to have developed some resistance to the chemicals. Two issues crop up here: the first is that the negative impact of climate change has settled into Nigerian agriculture. Secondly, we are treated to the possible implications of chemical adulteration. These must be tackled vigorously.
Also speaking Mallam Inusa, another Zaria local farmer lamented the losses suffered in production with complete wipe out in some farms and pointed to the bare nature of assistance received from the government so far.
At AgroNigeria, we consider the action of the government on this issue to be downright unacceptable. The nature of the response, by States like Kano and Kaduna, which saw the government going into exploratory talks with chemical producing companies should have attained national prominence by now.
Companies like Russell IPM – a UK based outfit with size able expertise and experience in combating this pest, particularly given their bio-efficient approach – should have been formally contracted long before now, to provide ideas and solutions to the problem. Which leads me to ask why we must always wait for problems to get out of hand before addressing them? Or why we disdain simple, timely and resource savvy solutions to problems and rather gravitate towards the complex, all with a mindset that wants to throw money around?
It is high-time that we truly approach agriculture as a business. That will mean going about it with the mindset of the private sector. Here, we look for efficiency and timeliness coupled with solution. Problems need to be solved, not created. One begins to wonder whether the FMARD has lost its recently recovered “private sector cladding”. There is too much at stake for the Nigerian economy.
That is so much the case when considering that Dansa Agro-Allied Ltd, has just commissioned a mammoth tomato processing plant in Kano, and deserves to have constant and qualitative tomato produce to feed its machines. Inaction on the part of government will only result in the failure of its policy thrust aimed at ensuring local production of tomato paste – a key foreign exchange drain. Should the Dangote tomato processing business collapse, one can only imagine what that will portend in terms of dampening of private agribusiness investment appetite.
Given the high stakes, it is clear that lethargy, whether perceived or actual, cannot be condoned. Our government must act now, and decisively too!
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