Chili pepper farmers frustrated by market

Chili pepper, though harsh in the mouth, could bring cool cash into farmers pocket as some graduate farmers in Alwaza town have found out. That, however, depends on finding the right price and market for the produce. Otherwise, farmers can be left frustrated, as in the present situation.  The graduates in Alwaza, a community in […]

Chili pepper, though harsh in the mouth, could bring cool cash into farmers pocket as some graduate farmers in Alwaza town have found out.
That, however, depends on finding the right price and market for the produce. Otherwise, farmers can be left frustrated, as in the present situation. 
The graduates in Alwaza, a community in Nasarawa State, unlike their contemporaries roaming the streets of major cities in the country in search of the illusive white collar jobs, hold on to farming and show no sign of leaving it for job in the mega cities. 
Among them is Stephen Akwakipi, a graduate of chemistry education from the Nasarawa State University, Keffi. He is a well-known farmer among his peers in Alwaza, Doma. In the last one month, he harvested over 80 bags of chili pepper, with each bag weighing 25kg.
At the beginning of harvest in August, each of the 25kg bags fetched between N4,000 and N6,500.
But that has changed drastically in the last few weeks. The prices of the product had crashed to N400 per bag! That leaves Stephen and other graduates cultivating the produce in the village in pains. 
He asked: “Even if the buyers say they’ll pay N200 per bag, what would you do? You have to sell to them  at that price. Unfortunately, we don’t have facility to dry this thing. In a situation where we have been having rain almost on daily basis since the beginning of August, how can you dry it?” 
Another graduate, Esson Asla, said that he could not profit from the product because the price had crashed at the time when he started making good harvest. He expressed sadness that considering the amount of effort put into the cultivation of chili pepper, price of N400 per 25kg bag is not worth it. 
Esson, a graduate of physics from the University of Jos, believes that more needs to be done to change the face of Nigerian agriculture. He opines that agriculture pays only if the facilities for value addition were made available to farmers. Stephen stresses that government needs to do more in the areas of marketing, saying that is where the farmer feels the pains and gains of being a farmer. 
“They are asking us to go to the farm, but if we farm and fail to sell our produce, the aim is defeated,” he stated.
Emmanuel Baba is a graduate of home and rural economy from the Nasarawa State College of Agriculture, Lafia. For him, the current price of chili pepper is discouraging, saying: “Only those who harvested early got something out of it.” 
Like his contemporaries, Ovye Ayuba has been cultivating the product since his secondary school days because, according to him, the money from that helps in overcoming his financial challenges in school. 
Ayuba, a graduate of fishery technology from the Nasarawa State College of Agriculture, Lafia, said that irrespective of the fall in the price of the crop, it helps people to tackle their challenges while other crops can be left unsold until their price gets better. 
Although, prices are favourable to them at the moment, these graduate farmers find an alternative to the illusive white collar job.
They believe having access to drying equipment, market or even off-takers will help farmers obtain good prices for their produce.