Tomato Price Crashes From N25,000 To N800 Per Basket

A small basket of tomato, which sold for N25,000 in May,
is now going for N800 in Kaduna. And, no, it is not a joke.
It had been all anger and pain for households as the price
of tomatoes hit the roof across the country as a result
of scarcity caused by tuta absoluta, also known as
‘tomatoc ebola’.
This affected the crop in most parts of the north-
west, notably Kaduna, Jigawa, Katsina and Kano states.
As a result, the basket prices jumped from the range of
N800-N1200 to between N25,000 and N40,000 at the
height of the crisis.
At the Line Dogo (Rail Line) tomatoes and vegetable
market in Kaduna on Saturday, it was a beehive of
activities.
Buyers could not believe their eyes as tomato prices had
crashed to a two-month low.
Abass Mai Tumatur, chairman of the tomato sellers, told
TheCable it was a “pleasant relief” for everyone as tomato
is now available and in large quantities.
Mai Tumatur: Things are getting better
“Tomato scarcity is nothing new, but it was made worse
this year by the invasion of the moth,” he said.
He said the insects mutate more during the dry season but
don’t survive during the rainy season.
“The rains coupled with the efforts of government have
helped tremendously in making tomato available,” he
said, praising the government for the “timely intervention”.
He assured the public that the fear is gone now “and
hopefully for good”.
Farmers were left stranded and helpless as the moth
ravaged their farms and left destruction across the farming
community, making a pot of soup as expensive as gold.
Hotels and restaurants, in particular, faced a nightmare as
the crisis also shot up the price of canned tomato paste.
Many were not aware of the reasons for the scarcity as
frantic efforts were made to to address the situation.
Nasir el-Rufai, the Kaduna state governor, declared a state
of emergency and dispatched officials to Kenya to find
ways of tackling the ravaging insects.
The cost of the destruction in the state, according to el-
Rufai, was close to N1 billion.
Audu Ogbeh, minister of agriculture and rural development,
also commissioned experts to find solutions to the
disease outbreak “as soon as possible”.
The insect originated from South America around 1912 and
has spread to other parts of the world.
Reports suggest the insect came to Africa through
Republic of Niger.