How border closure affects millet, cashew trade in Niger

Stakeholders and farmers around the Babanna/Benin Republic border in Borgu LGA of Niger State are anxious to see the opening of the Babanna International market to stimulate agricultural and trade activities in the area. Commodities such as maize, millet, groundnut, soybeans, sorghum, cashew, shea nut, sesame, rice, cotton, pepper, casava, yam and beans are reportedly […]

Stakeholders and farmers around the Babanna/Benin Republic border in Borgu LGA of Niger State are anxious to see the opening of the Babanna International market to stimulate agricultural and trade activities in the area.

Commodities such as maize, millet, groundnut, soybeans, sorghum, cashew, shea nut, sesame, rice, cotton, pepper, casava, yam and beans are reportedly produced in commercial quantities in several communities including Dekera, Konkoso, Babanna, Sokonbara, Marami and Kabe.

Weekend Trust gathered that the idea of converting the Babanna weekly market to an international market was conceived during the President Olusegun Obasanjo’s administration due to abundant agricultural potentials that require a viable market, but the idea is yet to come to fruition decades after.

The communities around the area said the market, which holds on Mondays, records influx of foreign traders from neighbouring Benin Republic, Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger Republic as well as Cameroon before the border was closed by the Buhari-led administration.

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Travellers from Togo and Niger Republics also use the Babanna border as transit route to cross to Niger State and exit through Adamawa, Taraba and other states into Cameroon and Chad, which also makes the market at the border a viable point of trading agricultural produce and improving foreign direct investment.

In addition to locally produced grains such as rice, beans, soybeans, sorghum, millet, sesame and yam that are sold in the market, residents said vegetable oil, cotton, rice, condensed milk, and many other farms produce would equally be imported from the neighbouring countries.

The Nigeria Customs Service has, however, reiterated several times that the border remains closed, though it acknowledges the economic opportunities in the area.

The locals told Weekend Trust that the market is located about 40km from the borderline and cuts across three political wards in Borgu LGA.

The wards are Babanna ward, Pissa ward and Konkoso ward, with each of the wards made up of several farming communities across the boundary with Benin Republic.

They also said that over 20 communities host the border market.

Dr Ibrahim Yahuza Yarima is a farmer and resident of Babanna. He told Weekend Trust that some of the crops majorly produced in commercial quantities in the area are soybeans, maize, groundnut, sesame and sorghum.

“Babanna border market is just a village market for now and most of the goods brought there are locally produced by our villagers because the closure of the border has affected the international people coming into that market with foreign goods but nevertheless, foreigners still come with their maize and sorghum because those ones have not been banned.

“The international market has not commenced but a site has been allocated and clearing has been done; take off is what we are waiting for.

“This community has a lot of potentials. Before the closure of the Babanna/Benin Republic border by the federal government, we had tokunbo drivers coming in with tokunbo cars from Benin Republic to Republic of Niger, Cameroon and other parts of Nigeria. That gave our youths meaningful jobs – both skilled and unskilled. The ones that didn’t go to school worked as drivers or engaged in car wash business to earn a living.

“We also had some people selling rice, vegetable oils and other lawful businesses along that area before the closure of the border. That time, when you offered youths government jobs, they would reject it, saying that they were not interested because what they got on a weekly basis from that market was more than what their friends and colleagues were paid at the end of the month as government workers.

“At the Babanna border market which holds on Mondays, from Sunday afternoon, you would see foreigners with goods and the market lasts until Tuesday. There’s no time of the year that you go to that market and will not get enough grains to buy,” he said.

Yarima said grains are cheaper in the market, revealing that a 100kg bag of soybeans was N75,000 while a bag of rice was N55,000; maize N50,000 and a bag of groundnut N22,000 at the last market.

Recently, the Niger State government took a step towards establishing the Babanna international border market by setting up the Niger State Babanna Border Development Agency.

At a recent stakeholders engagement meeting themed ‘Unlocking the border potential of the new Niger’, organised by the agency, stakeholders comprising of traditional rulers from Borgu Kingdom, farmers and representatives of the ministries of trade and investment, charted ways forward in creating 

enabling environment for farming communities in the area to boost their agricultural activities and increase revenue for the state.

The Director General, Niger State Babanna Border Development Agency (NIBBDA), Alhaji Mohammed Garba Danladi, said the communities in Babanna/Benin Republic border produced the best quality shea nut and sesame seeds in commercial quantity aside other commodities such as groundnut, beans, rice and millet.

He was, however, optimistic that the border would soon be reopened by the federal government to allow free movement of goods and boost international trade between Nigeria and neighbouring countries at the Babanna border in Niger State.

“Babanna border is one of the borders that have remained closed but there are independent and dependent variables responsible for that. The dependent variable that would lead to the opening of the Babanna border is already glaring by the federal government because it has chosen the Babanna border as one of its six border international markets for the country and we had started talks with the federal ministry of trade and investment before the change of the minister recently.

“Now that a new minister is on board, we are continuing our discussions on how we are going to ensure that Babanna international border market becomes a reality. We have already appointed transaction advisor to arrange investors to come and you cannot woo investors and still keep the border closed.

“In terms of the quantum of revenue to be generated, nobody can tell you that for now because 80 to 90 per cent of trades in that area are informal. These are trades that are not recorded but we are trying to streamline everything.

“There was a conference in Benin Republic where it was claimed that Benin Republic grows a large quantum of cashew nut but when it was taken for further investigation, it was discovered that the land space of Benin Republic could not produce such quantum of cashew nut. And when further question was asked as to where Benin Republic got it, the commodity was traced to Nigeria and Babanna, the border community. But because it is being done informally, we didn’t have the records to prove it,” the DG explained.

Alhaji Mohammed revealed that officials of the State Revenue Board have been deployed to establish the accurate revenue generation for the months of November and December to enable the government extrapolate what could be generated annually.

He said despite the abundant agricultural produce in the area, people were not taking cognisance partly because the trading has remained informal for decades, saying that “We have already started talks with the federal ministry of agriculture and food security, Agricultural Research Council of Nigeria, and other stakeholders to boost the small-scale farmer holder – those who will really do the production, because we need to really improve the production before we can even talk of export.”

 

Insecurity, bad roads major challenges

Despite the agricultural potentials in the area, deplorable state of roads and insecurity have hindered free movement of farm produce especially to Niger State markets and other markets across Nigeria.

The farmers, hence prefer to move their agricultural produce to markets in Benin Republic, Burkina Faso, Mali where roads are motorable without security challenges, residents said.

The Dodo of Wawa, one of the paramount traditional rulers in the area, Dr Mahmud Ahmed Aliyu, said if the market becomes a reality, it would boost agricultural activities in the area, while emphasizing on the need to address the security challenges and poor state of roads in the area.

He blamed the festering insecurity in the area on the activities of informants, saying that unless the challenge of informants is addressed, insecurity would remain.

“We are known to be farmers and we are still farmers. And certainly, making the Babanna weekly market an international border market would encourage more people to embrace farming. We have three major markets in Borgu LGA today—Wawa market, Gufanti market and Babanna market. So, if the market is no longer weekly, a farmer would be encouraged to farm more because there’s a ready-made market at your door step. Farmers would be happier having this market.

“Truly, there is challenge of insecurity but by the will of Allah, everything would be okay. I was one of those affected by insecurity three years ago. However, how it was then is different from how it is now. The challenge has subsided. The most important thing is the unity of the people in the area and security agencies.

“Also, there’s the challenge of good roads. The Lumma-Babanna road was constructed during the administration of Mu’azu Babangida Aliyu and it’s in the deplorable condition now. If the roads are fixed and the issue of security addressed, farmers and marketers would enjoy their activities.

“Without security, you cannot have any meaningful development. So, we have to tackle that first before this market would be able to take off effectively.

The member representing Borgu LGA in the Niger State House of Assembly, Engr. Abdulrahman Bala Gambo, confirmed to Weekend Trust that the major challenges affecting the farming and marketing of farm produce in the area are deplorable condition of road networks and insecurity.

He said kidnappers and bandits constantly take advantage of the deplorable state of such roads to stop vehicles and kidnap traders, farmers and other commuters for ransom, saying that if the roads are made motorable, the rate of kidnappings would be reduced to the barest minimum.

“We have so many opportunities in that area and I am assuring you that, not only Niger State, the whole Nigeria would benefit from that international border market. We have so many agricultural products in that area and all we need are good roads so that the farmers can transport their crops to cities and towns.

“The road from Lumma to Babanna is a death zone. Our major challenges are insecurity and bad roads. If these two problems are addressed, it would open up opportunities, not just for Niger State but the entire Nigeria. That is why we are calling on the Niger State government to fix the Lumma-Babanna road. If that is done, it would bring the rate of insecurity down significantly. And if insecurity is addressed, farmers and other people would have peace of mind when coming out to do their businesses.

“But because of bad roads and insecurity in the area, farmers find it difficult to move their agricultural produce to markets within Niger State and Nigeria. A lot of people are farming in that area but because of the bad roads, they prefer to take it to the neighbouring countries instead of bringing them to markets in Niger State and other parts Nigeria. 

“In Babanna market, you will find cocoa in commercial quantity. We have a lot of cocoa in that area. We have maize, and even yam that farmers in Babanna-Benin Republic border produce is better than those you buy in Minna and other parts of Nigeria,” he said.

The chairman of Borgu LGA, Suleiman Yarima Kilishi, said his local government produces several crops that if a more formal selling point is established, it would improve food security in Niger State and Nigeria as a whole.

“We have been praying to Allah to bring to reality this idea of converting Babanna border market to an international border market. Now that government is talking about it, I am very happy.

“We speak the same language with the people of Benin Republic which will make our trade relationship solid. Also, some of the things that are produced in Burkina Faso and Niger Republic that we don’t have here would be brought here.”