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By Chinyere Anyanwu, [email protected]
As yam prices reach stratospheric heights, stakeholders have fingered insecurity in major food producing states of the country and high transportation costs as the main reasons the staple food is outside the reach of the masses.
The Chairman, Shukura Yam Sellers Association, Mile 12 International Market, Alhaji Muhammed Dandamma Yabo, stated this in Lagos at the weekend during a chat with newsmen.
Yabo, who is also the Chairman of Arewa Community Lagos, lamented the adverse effect of insecurity on the food sector, saying, “yam has never been as expensive as we have it this year and high cost of transportation and insecurity are the major causes. They are the major challenges facing our business as yam sellers.
“The high cost of transporting the yam from states of purchase like Benue, Nasarawa, and Niger, is the biggest problem we’re contending with. I’ve been in the yam selling business for over 25 years and in all that time, I’ve never experienced this kind of challenging business climate that has confronted us this year.”
He explained that, “we used to pay between N1 million and N1.2 million to transport a lorry load of yam from Benue State to Mile 12 Market but presently we pay between N2.5 million and N3 million to bring the same quantity of yam from Benue to Mile 12 Market. This is part of the reasons the produce is very expensive because we have to build all logistics’ cost into the price of the produce.” The yam sellers association chairman noted that most states that make up food baskets of the country are victims of insecurity but said Niger State is the worst hit. According to him, “in Niger State, farmers can no longer go to their farms due to kidnapping and killings going on there. These days, farmers pay bandits to be able to farm and during harvest too, they pay money to be allowed to harvest their produce. Failure to pay these levies results in being kidnapped and taken into to the bush to face torture and possible death. The farmers live and operate in fear.
Highlighting efforts of the association to get government to tackle permanently the problem of insecurity in order to enable farmers ply their trade freely and without fear, Yabo said he had reached out to government at all levels intimating them of problem of insecurity and its impact on food availability and affordability across the country.
He stated that, “last year, people couldn’t go to Niger State to buy yam because of the level of insecurity there so I wrote a letter through a lawyer to the state governor intimating him of the situation there. All the markets there have security operatives. The major issue is going to the farm to plant and harvest. I’ve appealed to government severally over the insecurity in the food producing states of the country and government as well, both at federal and state levels, are making concerted efforts to tackle the situation. Government is trying in this regard but we need to pray more to God to empower our leaders to be in proper control of the situation”
Speaking on the government’s intervention in the provision of inputs for farmers, Yabo said, “if the government can bring an end to insecurity, the issue of providing inputs for farmers is a minor issue.”
