Yam growers in Niger State have expressed their regret over the ongoing decline in yam prices brought on by the ongoing kidnapping of traders who go from Lagos and other areas of the country to purchase the crop.
Farmers told our correspondent that the present price was not comparable to the amounts they paid for inputs like fertiliser and chemicals during the planting season in Kuta, the Shiroro Local Government Headquarters, and Mutun-Daya, one of the main yam markets in Munya Local Government Area.
They claim that insecurity is the main reason why the price of yams has fallen since traders who often travel from Lagos and other regions of the nation have halted because of robbers' continuous kidnappings. The decline and low sales, according to traders and truck drivers, also had an impact on their means of support.
Farmers said they have resorted to taking the product to their clients in Lagos and other areas of the country. Farmers hold the goods in the markets for days before finding buyers.
They demanded a harsher crackdown on bandits in order to clear the routes leading to their yam markets, particularly those in the Shiroro and Munya local government regions so that customers could enter the market.
They also bemoaned the rising cost of fuel and the poor state of the roads, which made it difficult for them to carry their farm's produce to markets.
Ibrahim Tanko, one of the yam farmers in Shiroro, told our correspondent, “Honestly speaking, the price of yam has continued to fall seriously. The quantity of yam that cost N110, 000 before is now N55, 000 and this happens each market day. Buyers have run away because of kidnappings. The major challenge we face now is that we bought inputs at a higher cost, we bought fertilizer at N30, 000 per bag. We don’t know what to do to recover what we spent on the farm because we are losing the current market price. It is farmers that take yams to meet buyers now instead of buyers coming to meet farmers in the market. Some farmers now take yam to Lagos and other parts of the country because they need money.”
Another trader in the Kuta market, Bello Idris, said “traders who used to come from other places to buy farm produce from us are no longer coming because of insecurity in Shiroro. We are seriously down because if we bring our farm produce to the market, instead of making a profit we are losing.”
He added that “farmers are facing a lot of challenges in Niger State. We don’t have good roads to easily transport our farm produce to the market. Government should help us construct good roads. They should also help us with subsidized farm inputs. Farm inputs are too expensive in the market now. The price of petrol has also gone up and it is affecting us. Currently, in Kuta, petrol goes for N310 per litre. We don’t also have hospitals. Before we take our pregnant women to the hospitals in town, some lose their lives or have miscarriages because of the deplorable state of our roads. We also need potable drinking water.”
Similarly, Sani B. Sarki, the Secretary of Yam Farmers Association, Mutun-Daya, Munya Local Government Area, told our correspondent that “If we would be allowed to stay peacefully in our villages, even if the government doesn’t help us, we will fend for ourselves.”
The Chairman of Yam Traders, Shiroro LGA, Salisu Mai-Doya, said the price of yam has not been stable since the beginning of this harvest season, affirming that buyers are no more coming due to unending kidnappings in the area.
“The price of yam has not been stable. Whenever buyers come, the price goes up and if buyers are not on the ground, the price goes down. Buyers no longer come like before. Sometimes, while we are in the market, we would be told that bandits are coming. People would abandon their goods and run. So, we lose a lot. Nobody would enter this area now with his wealth in the name of trading,” he said.
Also speaking, Abdulkarim Tshohon-Soja, Chairman of Truck Drivers, Mutun-Daya Yam Market, said “When there was peace, we used to load 10 or 20 trucks on a market day but you hardly load two now. It is affecting us because unless traders come to buy, we will not have anything to load. But because of these bandits who kidnap people on a regular basis, they have stopped coming. When they kidnap you, they collect your money and you still suffer before you regain freedom. That is why most traders have diverted to other places where there is relative peace.
Shiroro, Paikoro and Munya are among the major yam-producing local government areas in the state.