The Lagos State Catfish Allied Farmers Association of Nigeria (LASCAFAN) has lamented the monopoly of produce sales by traders and middlemen in the sector.
LASCAFAN Chairman, Mr. Olatoye Fajimi, stated this in an interview with reporters on Monday in Lagos.
Fajimi decried the inability of local fish farmers to sell their produce at prices most beneficial to them.
He disclosed that traders and middlemen determine the price of the produce.
“We are not in charge of the sales of our catfish produce. The market women traders’ association has monopolized the sales.
“Our members are fish farmers, not fish marketers, and we are not allowed to sell in the market. The only sales we can do as fish farmers is to sell processed fish.
“We are not allowed to sell raw catfish produce. It has been a running battle between the farmers and the marketers for a number of years. It is a serious issue that we have,” the chairman said.
He said the development was affecting the profitability of farmers despite their efforts.
“The sales of our produce and the factors that determine the price are not in our hands, and it is affecting the profitability of the farmers’ efforts.
“We want the government to intervene. We do not have power over the sector. The traders should not determine how much the produce is sold because we are the ones doing the major work of cultivation in the sector.
“Towards the end of last year, we had a programme of home sales, where we created community farmers’ sales points for farmers to sell their fish within their localities.
“The market women came there to disrupt our operations while the sales were ongoing.
“When we reported the issue to the Lagos State Ministry of Agriculture, nothing came out of it. They informed us that the marketers are the ones licensed to sell at the markets,” Fajimi said.
He noted that farmers are only allowed to engage off-takers for their produce.
“We engage off-takers that supply supermarkets, restaurants, or hotels directly. We can sell to the off-takers, but we are not permitted to sell directly in the market.
“These traders, as middlemen, can buy from us and sell, and that is why they have the monopoly on the price and why they are pricing us down.
“That is why the marketers are giving us a lot of issues when it comes to the price of fish, and that is why the catfish business has a lot of challenges when it comes to marketing,” he said.
