Tomato farmers across the country have attributed the recent surge in tomato prices to a supply shortfall and transportation challenges.
Leaders of various tomato farmers’ associations disclosed this in separate interviews on Friday in Lagos.
The National President of the Tomatoes and Orchard Producers Association of Nigeria, Mr. Bola Oyeleke, cited reduced supply from the North and logistics issues in the Southwest as the main drivers of the price hike.
“The increase in tomato prices is largely due to logistics challenges faced by local farmers in the Southwest over the past two weeks,” Oyeleke said. “There has also been a sharp decline in supply from the North, where the tomato harvest season has ended.”
He explained that many farmers in the Southwest have been unable to transport their produce due to high transportation costs, leading to significant post-harvest losses.
“Since they couldn’t get their produce to the urban markets, many farmers were forced to sell at lower prices locally, just to cut losses. This has caused a drop in available supply in the cities and, in turn, led to a spike in prices,” he added.
Oyeleke expressed optimism that prices might stabilize in the coming weeks. “We’re hopeful that the price will come down next week. For the past two weeks, prices have been rising steadily due to these logistical problems,” he said.
Similarly, the Chairman of the Kaduna State Chapter of the Tomato Growers and Processors Association of Nigeria, Mr. Rabiu Zuntu linked the supply shortfall to delayed rainfall in northern Nigeria.
“There is currently a shortage of tomatoes in the North because the harvest season has ended. Local farmers cannot meet the current high demand,” Zuntu said.
He noted that the late onset of rains this year delayed planting, leading to a smaller harvest. “The regions expected to be harvesting now have little or no produce because the crops are not yet mature,” he explained.
“We had hoped that prices would fall after the Sallah celebrations, but unfortunately, market forces remain unpredictable,” Zuntu concluded.
A 50kg basket of tomatoes is currently sold for as high as N50,000 in Northern Nigeria, while prices in the South have ranged between N85,000 and N100,000 since late June.
