Who Is Greedy: The Farmer or Someone Else

A greedy Middleman

On the Plateau, we count ourselves lucky, and extremely so. In Plateau State, we don't only talk about the accommodating character of the people, but also the accommodating character of the climate, as well. Under the Plateau climate, we don't talk about what crops do well, we rather talk about crops that do not do well –it is easier to look at it that way, given the abundance of the crops the Plateau sun accommodates.

One crop grown in Plateau State more than elsewhere in the country is Irish potatoes. It grows abundantly, especially in the northern and central parts of the state. Back in the seventies and eighties, we often looked forward to the rains, during which nearly everyone grew the crop in even the smallest portion of land to which he had access. People will even cultivate potatoes and just share them with neighbours.

By its attraction, the demand just kept growing as other states farther away came to know about it. But since farmers had the challenge of how to store it, the crop remained cheap, despite this monster demand. With education and developments, farmers started learning ways of storing the crop. That is how irrational business practices came into the industry. Some people would buy and store them until a period when demand is highest when they would bring them out and raise the prices to the roofs.

As this happened, the crop started getting out of the reach of ordinary people, becoming an elitist crop. In Jos, you will see women selling it along the road to Abuja, an indication that the crop has now become the special food of the influential, who make their money in the millions. Now, however, we have reached a situation where even the elite are beginning to groan. This is May 2024 and a bag now sells for as much as a hundred and twenty thousand naira or even more.

This example of what obtains in Plateau is, sadly, everywhere in Nigeria. Back in the decades, farmers often cried over the lack of profitability. But while former President Mohammadu Buhari campaigned for the Presidency, he promised to create jobs in the agric industry. When he finally won the election, he banned the importation of rice, which largely came from Asian nations, particularly, Thailand. The decision of President Buhari was just the prompt required to correct miserable pricing in the industry. Before this, foreign rice had a higher advantage in competition, due to its high refinement at the mills. The local versions were endemic with stones and debris of chaff the modest technology couldn't get rid of. The administration encouraged people to get better technology leading to what is now hysterically referred to as "Nigerian foreign rice."

But, now that we have Nigerian foreign rice (I have defined it), prices have continued to rise –we thought local products would mean local prices. But because rice is among the few most revered meals in Nigeria, it became the reason why other foods are rising in price –maize, guinea corn, millet, fonio, sweet potatoes and even garri, the resort of poor people. If you argue that this is driven by inflation, other schools of thought would argue that it is the rising food prices that drive inflation.

The spiralling prices of foods in Nigeria raise the question of what many think is the killer greed of farmers. Farmers, on the other hand, blame it on middlemen and the rising cost of farm resources. Retailers of foods, who often go to rural markets to buy understand the situation better. They blame it on hoarding, which is largely orchestrated by middlemen. They build large warehouses, buy and store the foods until that period when they are in high demand. For grains, it is the period around August, just before harvest, when people's bans are depleted. For tubers, it is the period between April and May.

When farmers talk about resources, they are referring to fertilizers, herbicides and manpower. For chemical fertilizers, it is still middlemen that are to blame. They use all manners of enticements to buy fertilizers state governments have subsidized for their farmers and then sell to the farmers at high prices. It, however, takes the collusion of state officials. Thus, it could be said the constant enemy of the ordinary Nigerian is the middleman who goes to any extent to make money.

So, how can we tame the middleman so that ordinary people can breathe in Nigeria? We have to find a way of checking the middleman. One way is the law. If the middle man can continuously orchestrate challenges that ridicule the government's economic policies, it makes him public enemy number one and attention should shift to curbing his excesses.