Di high cost of tomatoes and pepper don become serious issue for Nigeria wey don put citizens for difficult situation.
Now, e no dey possible for pipo to prepare di soup wey dem want and how dem want am witout spending at least 5000 naira (£230, $300) and above.
BBC report how some families dey spend plenty money on vegetables and still dey struggle to manage to cook for dia family.
Nigeria economy get as e be as many citizens dey suffer. Wit 30,000 naira (£18; $22) a month, many pipo no fit afford to chop better food or live for better house.
Tomatoes and pepper na major vegetable for Nigeria wey many households dey use cook.
Some pipo believe say na insecurity for high tomatoes farming areas like Sokoto, Katsina, Zamfara, and oda states cause di shortage.
But wetin be di real reason why di scarcity still dey for Nigeria?
One tomato farmer for Sokoto State wey im name be Rilwanu Gandi explain say di shortage na sake of di rainy season – wey e say no dey good for tomato farming now. Gandi say di situation fit remain like dis until di end of di rainy season.
“Plus, di water don comot from di fadama (floodplain) wey we dey plant, and we gatz wait make rainy season finish make di floodplain get enof rainwater on am.”
“Also, we dey bring tomatoes from Niger Republic and dat one follow for di reason why e cost now” im add.
Kabiru Abubakar, wey be farming leader for Gunhwar Dangara village for Sokoto State confam wetin oga Gandi tok.
“Di heat for di floodplain wey we dey grow tomatoes don make us stop until di rainy season almost finish, becos even if you plant am e no go grow. So Instead, we dey grow rice now, not tomatoes.”
“Also, insecurity don stop farming for some areas for northern Nigeria, even though no be too much, but e dey among di reasons,” im tok.
Kabiru Abubakar believe say witin four months or more, tomatoes go plenty for Nigerian markets – “For about two months, we go start dey plant tomatoes for our fields as di rainy season dey go”.
E add say “dis mean say witin four to five months, wen cold season dey start, tomato farming go start and e go dey almost for evri wia for Nigeria”.
Wetin farmers association dey tok
Di secretary of All Farmers Association of Nigeria (AFAN), Dr Yunusa Halidu, tell BBC say insecurity na di main reason wey dey hinder tomato farming, wey cause high cost and scarcity for Nigeria.
Anoda reason na di high cost of inputs like fertilizer, labor, and transportation – plus, high demand dey always cause higher prices, according to Halidu.
Dr Halidu also highlight say di high cost of inputs dey contribute to di increase for vegetable prices: “Bifor, farmers dey buy fertilizer for N8,000, but now e cost around N38,000 and above, di price don triple or quadruple.”
“Bifor, to hire labourer for one day na N1,000 but now na N3,000 per worker a day. Bifor, to transport one truckload of fertilizer from Lagos cost 700,000 naira but now e go cost you around 3 to 4 million naira.”
“Recently, di Nigerian goment declare state of emergency for agriculture sector and announce over 300 billion naira support, but we never see any results.”
“If di goment do wetin dem suppose do for agriculture sector, e go reduce di cost of foodstuffs overall, no be only vegetables. But dem no dey take di right steps,” im tok.
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