The Niger Chapter of All Farmers Association of Nigeria (AFAN) has warned against the impending increase in the prices of foods and agricultural produce after this year’s harvest.
Alhaji Shehu Galadima, Chairman, AFAN in the state, said that bumper harvest would be impossible this year due to the negative impact of the Coronavirus (COVID-19), flooding and banditry on farmers.
“There is no doubt that farmers in Niger State and some parts of the country have been battling with the effects of COVID-19, flooding and banditry.
“All these issues put together will result in low yield for the farmers who are directly affected.
“We should expect increase in the prices of food and agricultural produce this year because the farmers have lost a lot to natural and man-made disasters,” he said.
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He said that the COVID-19, flooding and banditry affected many farmers in the North while farmers from other parts of the country were affected by the COVID-19 and flooding.
The AFAN chairman said that the farmers would increase the prices of the small quantity of farm produce available to them in order to cover their losses.
“When farmers increase the prices of farm produce, automatically the prices of foods will increase,’’ Galadima said.
He said that the Federal Government was working through the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) and the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development to assist farmers in the state.
He noted that the state government was supporting the farmers with irrigation scheme to embrace dry season farming toward boosting production.
AFAN has 1.6 million members in the state.
