By Reuben Abati
One of the major news items in circulation has been the scarcity
of tomato. Incidentally, Nigeria is (was) the 14th largest producer of tomato
in the world and the second largest producer in Africa, after Egypt, but our
country hardly produces enough to meet the local demand of about 2.3 million
tonnes, and lacks the capacity to ensure an effective storage or value chain
processing of what is produced. Out of the 1.8 million tonnes that the country
produces annually, 900, 000 tonnes are left to rot and waste. Meanwhile,
tomato-processing companies in the country operate below capacity and many of
them have had to shut down.
(pix:wealthresult) |
The
CEO of Erisco Foods, Lagos ,
Eric Umeofia laments that tomato processing companies lack access to foreign
exchange to enable them buy heat-resistant seedlings and other tools that would
help ensure the country’s sufficiency in local production of tomato paste.
Similarly, Dangote Tomato Factory recently suspended operations due to the
scarcity of tomatoes and the assault on its tomato farms by a tomato leaves
destroying moth, known as “tuta absoluta” – a South American native, also known
as the Tomato Ebola, because of its Ebola-like characteristics.
Other
reasons have been advanced for the scarcity of tomatoes in our markets: the
fuel crisis which has driven up costs making it difficult and expensive for
Northern tomato farmers to bring tomatoes to the South, insurgency in the North
East which has resulted in the closure of many tomato farms in that region,
thus cutting off national output, the recent ethnic crisis in Mile 2, during
which Hausa-Fulani traders and other marketers engaged in a murderous brawl,
climate-change induced drought and heat wave in the Northern-tomato producing
states of Kaduna, Katsina, Kano, Jigawa, Plateau, Kano and Gombe. In the best
of seasons, Nigeria
spends $1.5 billion annually on the importation of tomato products. The cost in
this regard, seems certain to rise.
Already,
the effect of this tomato blight is being felt in households. Whereas a few
months ago, a basket of tomato was about N5, 000, it is now about N40, 000 per
basket. Housewives are protesting bitterly about how a piece of tomato
vegetable has jumped up by about 650%, such that three pieces now go for as
much as N500. Tomato in Nigeria
today is thus more expensive than a litre of petrol! I have it on good
authority, that in those face-me-I-face-you quarters where the poor live, it
has in fact become risky to leave a tin of tomato paste carelessly or fresh
tomatoes lying around: they would most certainly be stolen, and there have been
reports of soup pots suddenly vanishing should the owner take a minute from the
communal kitchen to use the loo. Many are resorting to desperate measures to
sort out a growing epidemic of empty stomachs and empty pockets. Unless this
matter is addressed seriously and urgently, the social crisis may be far too
costly in both the short and the long run: hungry people could become sick and
angry, hungry citizens could become thieves and a nuisance, they could also
become angry voters and a rebellious populace.
However,
the most brilliant explanation that we have received so far from the Federal
Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development is that there is tomato scarcity
because of “tuta absoluta”. According to the Minister of Agriculture,
Audu Ogbeh, a group of experts will be immediately commissioned to advise the
government of Nigeria
on the way forward. The mandate of these experts is to “appraise the
situation”, and then give us “a figure on cost of treatment…so we will source
funds to tackle it.” Is that what this is all about? I am not in the mood at
this moment, to spoil anyone’s day, with
straight-to-the-nose-the-mouth-and-the-groin punches but I think that the
response from the Federal Ministry of Agriculture is far from adequate, if not
stupid. Please, where is that bow-tie wearing Akinwumi Adesina, the former
Minister of Agriculture, now on loan to the African Development Bank?
What
we are dealing with is a national food security crisis. Before the commissioned
outsiders begin to “appraise and cost”, the resident experts in the Ministry,
should know that it is not only tomato that has become a scarce and expensive
item in Nigerian kitchens, virtually every food item has become unaffordable
and there are many homes that can no longer feed properly. The scarcity of
tomato is only a metaphor for the spread of staggering inflation and the hunger
that ravages the land. A bag of rice that was once N7, 000 is now N19, 000 per
bag, a congo
of garri has jumped from N170 to N300, bread from N200 per loaf to N300, and
same is the case with virtually every food item. More than this, tomato scarcity
is a metaphor for the lack of continuity in governance processes (What happened
to all that revolution in the agriculture sector under Akinwumi Adesina as
Minister?) and of course, for the failure since independence, to take
agriculture seriously as a major vehicle of national security and development.
If the response to this query is that nothing concrete actually took place
under previous administrations, then what is the present Minister’s blueprint?
What is his comprehensive agenda for ensuring food sufficiency?
It
is indeed absurd that in 2016, we cannot produce enough tomatoes to feed
ourselves – the short of it is that that single narrative about “tomato ebola”
calls for more rigorous thinking. It is not enough to deal episodically
with tomato scarcity, or the scarcity of any other food item; this must be done
within the context of a plan of action. The job of government officials is to
give the people hope and not to deepen their agony. A committee of experts
looking into the scarcity of tomato, and how to throw money at the problem (!)
is a round-about excuse for doing nothing. The knowledge that is required
is within easy reach and much of the issues at stake, those within the province
of the Ministry and those located in the larger context, are out there in the
public domain, and perhaps, also in those accumulated files and old reports
that most officials hardly ever read. The Ministry also spoke up rather
too tardily.
For
weeks, there have been all kinds of ethnic and political insinuations about how
tomato became scarce, some of which, allowed to fester for too long, could have
resulted in other crises. And we can only hope that the connection
between food and health will not be lost on the experts. The health benefits of
tomato alone are so many; to have a population no longer eating tomatoes,
because of its cost could have long-term health implications. And while we
expect the Federal Government to take the lead in terms of visioning, we should
remember to ask: what are the state governments also doing? What are the states
doing to promote agriculture and ensure food security? Apart from Kaduna state, other state
governments have been criminally silent about the food crisis or they really
don’t know since they probably get supplies of fresh tomatoes from neighboring
countries for their own kitchens. All the big men eating imported fresh
tomatoes when we, the people, can’t get tomatoes to eat, just “continuu eh” but
don’t forget that a hungry and angry voter is an enemy of politicians.
There
is another side to this whole tomato thing that is noteworthy. Special notice
must be taken of the reference to the insurgency in the North East as a threat
to agriculture. It is also interesting that most of the tomatoes produced in
the country are from the North, and the Middle Belt. Check the list of major
tomato-producing states in Nigeria :
Kaduna , Katsina, Kano , Jigawa, Gombe, Plateau. Also check the
list of the states where people are complaining most about the cost of tomato:
they are all in the South! We should ask: so Southern Nigerians are grumbling
about tomato being expensive and scarce, why are they so dependent on Northern
farmers? They want tomatoes from the North, but are these not the same people
who don’t want to see Northern cattle herdsmen in the South? Are these not the
same people campaigning on social media that Southerners should stop buying
beef in order to spoil market for Northern herdsmen? They are now begging for
tomatoes from Northern farms?
In
Ekiti, the state Governor has already given local hunters an executive order to
shoot any AK-47 wielding herdsmen sighted anywhere in the state. It may not
have occurred to the Governor that an AK-47 is far more versatile than a
“shakabula” that is made by local blacksmiths and that he may actually be
sending his local hunters on a suicide mission, but I doubt if the same
Governor will stop lorry loads of fresh and healthy tomato baskets coming from
Gombe to Ekiti markets! Thus, whereas cattle-grazing is causing ethnic
division, tomato is generating so much hypocritical love for the Northern
farmer: “Please, send us tomato, stop selling tomato to the tomato paste
producers!”. This country is truly far more integrated and its various units so
interdependent, in more ways than the politics of hate and division would ever
allow the people to see. It is tomato today, should onions, millet and kolanuts
also become very scarce, Southerners may start begging Northern farmers to
please bring their produce to the South. This is the truth of our interdependence
but we need to get our politics right and those who exploit ethnic divisions
must allow the country to grow.
One
final point: The scarcity of tomato and the threat of a national food crisis
should remind policy makers at all levels, of the importance of agriculture. A
nation that can feed itself is a safe and secure nation. A hungry nation can
only have sad people. Tomato is incidentally, a versatile vegetable, very easy
to grow, usually ready for harvest between 60 – 85 days. Those who are screaming
“give us tomatoes”, and playing politics with it, may also do well to embark on
subsistence farming: create a small garden in the backyard, turn that
uncultivated plot of land into a small farm, plant a variety of food plants,
remove that your white collar, stop waiting on the Northern tomato farmer, get
on with the food revolution we need…while hoping that some day, Nigerian
leaders will stop waiting for oil money and rediscover agriculture as Nigeria’s
true gold.
*Dr. Reuben Abati is a former presidential spokesperson
No comments:
Post a Comment