The Senator representing Southern Kaduna, Sunday Marshall Katung, has
expressed fears that Nigeria may lose its position in the global market as
the second-largest producer of ginger if farmers are not compensated. This
followed the loss of N12 billion worth of goods due to the fungal disease
that affected ginger farmers in the area.
The Minister of State for Agriculture and Food Security, Aliyu Abdullahi, had
confirmed the outbreak of the ginger blight epidemic in Kaduna, Nasarawa,
Plateau and the Federal Capital Territory. According to him, preliminary
estimates show that farmers in Southern Kaduna alone lost over N12
billion.
Speaking at a one-day workshop, organised by the Senate Committee on
Capital Market in collaboration with the Lagos Commodities and Future
Exchange, in Abuja, the Senator lamented that ginger farmers may not
return to farming as the rainy season approaches if they are not
compensated for the loss they incurred during the outbreak of the deadly
disease.
Katung observed, “If the ginger farmers are not encouraged by way of
compensation, Nigeria may lose her position on the global stage as the
second largest producer of the commodity.”
The senator recalled that “The losses the ginger farmers incurred as a
result of the outbreak of the fungi pathogens during the last farming season
were monumental.” He, therefore, said that the way out was for the
authorities to compensate the farmers so they would be encouraged to
return to the farm. Katung expressed fears that if that is not done, Nigeria
will lose her prime position as the second largest producer of ginger in the
world.
The senator was reacting to the outbreak of blight disease that hit the
ginger farms in Nigeria of recent, which threatens its production and
subsequently the foreign exchange benefit from it. Fears are that countries
that had already pinned their hope on Nigeria may be forced to look
elsewhere, if problem is not nibbed in the bud. However, prior to the alarm
by the senator, the government had set up a taskforce to look into the
problem and suggest ways of giving support to the farmers so they can
return to the farms.
