Bambara Nut Sellers Count Losses In Enugu Following Price Crash

Some traders of bambara nuts are counting their losses in Enugu following the falling prices of the essential commodity.

THE WHISTLER investigations show that a 100 kilogramme of the commodity, which the dealers purchased a few weeks ago at N120, 000 per bag for retail, has crashed to N90, 000. According to them, the falling price of the commodity was not foreseen by most buyers.

“I bought six bags last month at the cost of N119,000,” says Chibuike Eneh, a trader at New Market, Enugu. “I had expected that after Christmas that price would appreciate. But the reverse is the case. I have lost so much within one month. My problem is that I borrowed the money from an institution. This year has started badly on my side. I did the same business last year, and I made some gains.”

Eneh blamed the downswing on the influx of the nuts from the North. “They keep flooding the market with bambara nuts from Benue and Taraba. Some are supplied from the far North. This is not a joke.”

The fate of Eneh also befell Mrs Angelina Ogbuka, from Mpu in Aninri Local Government Area of Enugu State. She said, “I have never got involved in Okpa business. Last year, I stored red oil, and lost heavily. I was told to try bambara nuts by my uncle. I’m losing almost N250, 000 from last November to this January. And the price keeps crashing. These trailers from the North keep bringing the commodities.”

It is a different stroke for Priscilla Ozorma, a teacher. She stored some bags of the commodity which she bought at N165, 000 last year. According to her, “Mine is worse. It is the old stock. I thought the new harvest would delay, so that I make some profit. I am losing almost N50,000 per bag. I borrowed the money I used to buy them from our cooperative society. Help me tell the government to rescue us.”

It was gathered that bumper harvest of the commodity in the northern parts of the country is behind the price crash in Enugu and its metropolis.

An agricultural engineer, Mr Jude Ugwu, said the fall in prices of the commodity was because the supply outweighed the supplies. “It might affect farming activities next planting season. It means that even the manufacturers are counting losses. They may reduce their cultivation in the coming season, and the result will trigger inflation. It shows how backward our agricultural system is. There are no storage facilities where farmers could have kept their products to sell when the prices appreciate. The government can also off-take the commodities. By so doing, the farmers will not lose and they will happily return to farm. I expect food drought next year because of these post-harvest loses.”

However, the beneficiaries are those selling cooked ones, popularly called okpa in Igbo, Epa-roro in Yoruba and Kwaruru in Hausa.

“We still sell the cooked quantity at the same price. It’s mainly N300 as packed in a milk can. The price of the commodity has crashed, but we retain the old price because we spice it with other ingredients. But truly we make more gains now, even more than the cost of producing them.”