Nigerian ginger farmers blame marketers for bad pricing
Some of the farmers said they were unable to sell what they have in stock, a situation that will affect this year’s production. Monday Adukwa, secretary of the Ginger Farmers Association, has been in ginger production for over 35 years. He told the Dailytrust that the challenges they have with ginger farming mainly have to do with the market.
“We are the producers, but when it comes to the market, somebody out there [referring to marketers, ed.] decides the price for us. As I am talking to you, the price of ginger on the international market is between N55,000 and 65,000 (€127-150) per bag.” But when it comes to local market, the marketers buy at not more than N7,000 (€16) at the moment.
“Right from the beginning of the year, the price of ginger crashed to between N3,000 and 5,000 (€7-11.50),” he said. Adukwa noted that the price of ginger last year and this year was not comparable. He said, last year ginger was sold between N15,000 and 19,000 (€35-44) per bag, while this year the price has literally collapsed. This he stressed, has affected him negatively because he was unable to even pay his children’s school fees.
One of the farmers who is a graduate of Agric Engineering believed that ginger production is caught up in the politics of Southern and Northern Kaduna. The farmers also believe that lack of processing companies in the country, weak farmers’ associations and a disorganized market system have affected ginger for many years.
