The chairman of Mile 12 International Market in Lagos, Shehu Jibrin, has attributed Nigeria’s over 500% increase in tomato and pepper prices to inadequate supply, instability, and infestation.

Jibrin revealed this during an interview that ZINGTIE saw on Channels Television on Monday.

According to information obtained by ZINGTIE, three pieces of pepper and tomato are currently sold for N1000 and N500 in most Nigerian marketplaces, up from N100 and N50 a few months ago. This suggests that the cost of tomatoes and peppers grew by nine hundred throughout the review period.

Jibrin discussed the price increase and mentioned that plant diseases and insecurity had caused a major decline in the supply of tomatoes and peppers to Lagos from other states.

He said, “Except the government tackles insecurity, the problem of high prices of tomatoes and peppers will remain unsolved.

“This is the off-season now, so we expect tomatoes to come from Ilaro, Ogbomosho, Abeokuta, Osun, and part of Cameroon to come to Lagos. Unfortunately, the ones from Cameroon, Ogbomosho, and Abeokuta are late. The ones from Cameroon cannot feed the nation. The demand is high, but the supply is insufficient.

“We expect tomatoes from the North to be available at this time, but because of the tomato Ebola disease, we cannot have sufficient supply.

“Let’s assume that we have 5000 farmers in the country, less than 1500 are farming with their eyes closed. Most farmers in the North are currently in internally displaced camps. If Nigeria cannot tackle insecurity, the prices of tomatoes, peppers, and other perishables will continue to go up. Farmers are not going to the farm due to insecurity. There is no solution except for farmers going to the farm,” he said.

Previously, Abubakar Kyari, the Minister of Agriculture, attributed the increase in tomato prices to their scarcity due to an infestation known as tomato Ebola or tomato leaf miners on tomato farms.

The Nigerian Tomato Growers Association attributed the food product’s price increase to tomato ebola.

Recall that food inflation rose to 40.66% and 40.53%), respectively, according to the National Bureau of Statistics’ most recent Consumer Price Index and Inflation report.

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